CBSLA Lands Major Villaraigosa Scoop

Score one for CBS Channel 2 reporter Stephanie Abrams and her team. In an interview broadcast last night and posted today to the station website as well as Yahoo!’s hyperlocal news beta, she got Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to speak publicly for the first time about memories of an abusive, alcoholic father.

It’s powerful stuff, regardless of how you feel about the city official’s politics. Villaraigosa, whose dad split when he was five, says he retains vivid memories of cowering under a bed with his younger sister as his mother was beaten by his father:

Villaraigosa also recalls in the interview how he once, shortly after getting elected, jumped out of a car and chased after a man he spied beating up a woman. He caught the individual, but tellingly, his female victim refused to press charges.