AND THE INGLEWOOD TRIBUNE, CARSON BULLETIN, WILMINGTON BEACON, THE CALIFORNIAN, THE WEEKENDER & EL MONTE BULLETIN WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 2018
AN AMERICAN PRINT MEDIA PUBLICATION
Grand Jury Indictment Unsealed Involving Alleged Attack on Actor, Actress
LOS ANGELES—Two men were charged with kidnapping an actor and actress in South Los Angeles last year and holding the actor for ransom in a plot allegedly involving a woman whose arrest was caught on video that went viral on social media, according to an unsealed indictment
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EITH Andre Stewart, 33, and Johntae Jones, 27, are charged with a dozen counts each including kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping and conspiracy to commit a crime involving the alleged May 3, 2017, attack at the home of actress Daisy McCrackin. According to the indictment, actor Joseph Capone was allegedly pistol-whipped, then driven with McCrackin to a home in Compton, stripped naked and held without food in a bathtub for 30 hours while
ransom money was demanded from the actress. The indictment includes gun allegations against Stewart and Jones, along with an allegation that Stewart personally inflicted great bodily injury on Capone. Co-defendant Amber Neal, 26, is facing charges including kidnapping and grand theft auto involving McCrackin and her 2011 red Lexus, according to the indictment. The indictment alleges that McCrackin and Capone were forced to wear black canvas hoods to obscure their vision
gedly e l l a e wa s e d , t h e n n o p Ca h i p p ra c k i n w l o C t pis h Mc pton, t i w n d r i ve m e i n Co m a n d o d t o a h p e d n a ke d i n a s t r i p h o u t f o o r s. wit hou 0 3 r held tub fo bath while t h e y were being driven to Jones' home in Compton and that the two were told McCrackin would need to pay a ransom of either $10,000 or $20,000 before Capone would be released. Jones and Neal allegedly took McCrackin's vehicle, drove her to multiple bank locations while demanding the money for Capone's release and forced McCrackin to write a $10,000 check to Neal, which she
allegedly deposited into her account, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. McCrackin was eventually taken back to her home the next day, where she was able to escape and alert police, according to the District Attorney's Office. Stewart—who allegedly has four prior convictions for firstdegree burglary between 2011 and 2013 in Los Angeles and Orange County—is charged with one count each of kidnapping for ransom, kidnapping, kidnapping to commit another crime, mayhem, first-degree residential burglary, assault with a semiautomatic firearm, assault n Indictment, see page 8
Actress Daisy McCrackin.
Authorities Seeking Suspects Who Assaulted 92-Year-Old Man in Willowbrook Area
Celebrated Artist Explores Marginalization, Value and Willpower in New Show at Band of Vices Art Gallery Band of Vices Art Gallery is thrilled to announce Process & Materials, the new solo exhibition by artist Sharon Louise Barnes. Featuring over a dozen new abstract sculptures and multimedia works on canvas, the salvaged objects that comprise this new body of work become Barnes’ vehicle to explore the subjects of marginalization, social class and willpower, while the process of creating them connects her to her heritage as an African American. Process & Materials will be on view from July 6 to August 4, 2018, with an Opening Reception on July 6 from 6pm to 9pm. Barnes will hold an Artist Talk at the gallery on July 28, 2018 at 4pm. Process and materials are essential elements of any artists’ practice, whether that be painting on canvas or creating sculpture. Over the course of her creative career, which has included everything from music to visual art, Barnes has turned the creation of her sculptures into an alchemical practice that allows her to find hope and transformation in the struggle to work with rough and salvaged materials.
“By using industrial materials that might normally be held in a laborer's hands, as well as an array of discarded materials that can be found on city streets, my abstract works are both conceptual and aesthetic,” explains Barnes. “They look outward into society, opening dialogs about marginalization, about how we determine value, and the potency of change. They also speak to my African American heritage where people built something from very little or nothing, and demonstrated the power to transform one’s condition through the exercise of will.” The recurring motif of cloud and treelike formations made of interwoven s t r i p s of roofing
paper appears in suspended sculpture pieces like “She Wove Constellations Through Her Dreadlocks” and “Humming in the Night.” “Viewpoints: A Verité” juxtapose found photo transfers with abstract acrylic and mixed media backgrounds. The visceral works are a coalescence of passions she’s been exploring as an artist for almost two decades. “On this creative path, nothing has been more remarkable in my memory than when my fifth grade teacher gave me the tools of perspective drawing to create the illusion of reality, or when my African American Art History p r o f e s s o r, renowned
artist Dr. Samella Lewis, exposed me to the visual artists of the Black Arts Movement,” says Barnes. “These instances truly changed my life because they brought me to understand both the sheer magic of art and its unrestrained power to communicate.” Band of Vices is located at 5376 W. Adams Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90016. Sharon Barnes is an American artist of African American and Cape Verdean descent, who has been exhibiting professionally since the turn of the millennium. Barnes was inspired to create visual art as a young college student by her art history professor, Dr. Samella Lewis, who introduced her to the artists of the Black Arts Movement. In addition to her art studies, Ms. Barnes earned a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis in video and film. Her work has been exhibited in major cities of the United States and in the Republic of Panama, including the California African American Museum, Los Angeles Municipal Gallery at Barnsdall, Aqua Art Miama and the Arco Chato in Panama.
LOS ANGELES—Authorities Monday sought public help to find the people who assaulted a 92-year-old man with a piece of concrete while he was walking in the Willowbrook area on the Fourth of July. The attack occurred about 7 p.m. that day at 118th and Robin streets, according to sheriff’s Detective Matt Luna of the Century Station. The victim was identified by his family on a GoFundMe page as Rodolfo Rodriguez. “My grandfather ... was going for his daily walk around the block when he was assaulted by an African American lady and five other guys,” according to the family statement on the page. “He is doing really bad, has a lot of bruises on his face and a broken cheekbone.” As of Tuesday afternoon donations to help the injured man had reached approximately a quarter-of-a-million dollars. Luna said the man was attacked by a black woman in her 30s who was walking with a young girl. Witnesses have said the woman may have thought the man bumped the child when he walked by the woman and a group of men. “He was hit with an object and he lost consciousness,” Luna said. “A witness saw the female and two or three men assaulting him.” Luna said a cell phone image of the female suspect was provided to authorities. The woman who took the photo and a video of the bloodied victim on the ground after the attack told ABC7 the assailant pushed the man to the ground and beat him. n Beating, see page 8