News 24/7

Pomona boy dies after van hits him in street Thursday

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:27:36 -0800

A one-year-old boy was hit by a van Thursday afternoon and later died of his injuries in a hospital.
The boy at 2 p.m. entered the 2400 block of Lennox Street from a sidewalk and into the path of a southbound traveling van, Pomona police said in a statement.
A relative of the boy later allowed the van's driver, a 50-year-old Pomona man, to transport all three to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona.
Medical staff's efforts to save the child, who sustained major injuries, were unsuccessful.
The police department's Major Accident Investigation Team is investigating the incident while no arrests or citations were made.

Museum curator to host walk through cemetery

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:00:00 -0800

San Bernardino County Museum curator of history Michele Nielsen on May 8 will lead a gallery walk in Agua Mansa Pioneer Cemetery in Colton.

The informal event will start at 1 p.m. and is free.

Nielsen will discuss objects, current research, and photographs related to the cemetery and the region.

Over the coming year, renovation work will be conducted at the site, including outdoor kiosk exhibits and a bird-watching trail.

For more information on this event, call Michele Nielsen at (909) 307-2669, ext. 240.

Upland police will conduct DUI checkpoint Thursday

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 10:43:52 -0800

The Upland Police Department will conduct a DUI /driver's license checkpoint from 6 p.m. Thursday until 1:15 a.m. Friday at an undisclosed location in the city.

Officers will check driver's licenses and check motorists for signs of drug and/or alcohol intoxication.

The checkpoint is funded by a grant from the state Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, according to an Upland police news release.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Mother and daughter test negative for swine flu virus

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:56:45 -0800

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health today informed officials at Our Lady of the Assumption School in Claremont, and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, that the swine flu test results on the mother and daughter, who is a student at the school, indicate that neither individual has the swine flu virus.

The school has been thoroughly cleaned in advance of resumption of classes tomorrow.

Four men attack Montclair resident, drive off with his car

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:10:59 -0800

Montclair police are looking for four robbers who beat a man and drove off with his vehicle.

Gary Dean Ramirez, 39, of Montclair was driving his gray Acura TSX to the area of Mission Boulevard and Ramona Avenue to pick-up a friend about 2 a.m. Saturday, according to a police news release.

When he stopped his car near the entrance of the mobile home park at 11250 Ramona Avenue, Ramirez noticed two other men in the area. He asked the men about his friend but one of the suspects pointed a silver semi-automatic weapon at him and told him to get out of the car.

One of the men put Ramirez in a head lock, forced him to the ground and hit him repeatedly as the three other people stood and watched, according to the news release.

After the beating, the robbers took Ramirez' wallet, cell phone, and jewelry.

Three of the attackers drove away in a red Ford Mustang and the last robber followed them in Ramirez' car.

They were last seen driving northbound on Ramona Avenue and then westbound on Mission Boulevard.

Police said all four suspects were white men between 25 and 35 years old. Two of them had blond goatees and all four had shaved heads.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Rubidoux homicide victim identified

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:30:26 -0800

A man found dead of a gunshot wound outside a continuation school Monday has been identified as 52-year-old Lloyd Cecil Johnson of Rubidoux.

Riverside County sheriff's officials said Johnson was found by a jogger outside the Learning Center at 4041 Pacific Ave. at 6:09 a.m. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

Johnson has no connection to the Learning Center or the Jurupa Unified School District, officials said.

Anyone with information may call sheriff's Investigator Nelson Gomez, (760) 393-3500.

melissa.pinion-whitt@inlandnewspapers.com

California combats spread of swine flu

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:30:03 -0800

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Students and teachers have become ill. A few schools are even closing for fear the swine flu will take hold of their campuses.

These are the first signs of a state coming to grips with a disease that has affected thousands south of the border and threatens to spread to thousands more across America.

With 149 suspected swine flu deaths in Mexico -- where schools have been closed nationwide -- the disease has captured international attention, but California officials are trying to inform the public without causing a scare. While 48 cases of swine flu have been confirmed in the United States and 13 in California, none have been fatal.

"So far, the disease has been fairly mild and like any influenza season, we expect this to last for weeks as we move along and find out more about this virus," said Dr. Bonnie Sorensen, chief deputy director of the California Department of Public Health.

Gov't: Stern border enforcement not yet necessary

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 08:00:12 -0800

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Tuesday staunchly defended its "passive surveillance" policy on the emerging swine flu threat, saying that its measured, cautious border monitoring makes sense.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano declared that more draconian enforcement steps are not yet necessary, even as she acknowledged that officials "anticipate confirmed cases in more states." She reiterated President Barack Obama's stance that people are justifiably concerned but need not be alarmed by it.

Some 50 swine flu infections have been identified so far in the United States, but no deaths. In contrast, there have been over 150 deaths in neighboring Mexico, and Asian countries deployed thermal sensors at airports to screen passengers from North America for signs of fever.

I-210 crash injures two; prompts freeway closure

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 07:00:57 -0800

A San Bernardino woman suffered major injuries in a rollover crash that forced the closure of the 210 Freeway this morning.

La Verne firefighters rescued the woman, who became trapped in her Ford Escort when the vehicle flipped on an embankment, said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.

The CHP shut down both sides of the 210 Freeway at Foothill Boulevard so a helicopter could land on the highway and fly the woman to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center.

The crash was reported at 3:35 a.m. on the eastbound 210. Officers say an Upland man in a Toyota Avalon struck the woman's Ford Escort, causing both vehicles to veer out of control and overturn. The man received moderate injuries and was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for treatment.

Officers issued a Sig Alert during the crash and shut down the three right lanes, Villalobos said. The Sig Alert was canceled at 5:03 a.m.

melissa.pinion-whitt@inlandnewspapers.com

Cloudy, cool weather expected today in the I.E.

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:44:03 -0800

It's going to be a cloudy, cool day today with a slight chance of drizzle in the morning.

The National Weather Service said there would be a chance of drizzle before 11 a.m. The high temperature today will be near 69 degrees in San Bernardino and 68 in Ontario.

Forecasters expect some fog to roll into the area late this evening into Wednesday morning.

Temperatures will warm up slightly on Wednesday into the low to mid 70s.

Thursday will be in the low 80s, forecasters said.

melissa.pinion-whitt@inlandnewspapers.com

Prelminary hearing confirmed in fire chief's dog-beating case

Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:28:49 -0800

John Sweeney, Glynn Johnson's defense attorney, confirmed in a phone interview today that a preliminary hearing will go forward as scheduled Tuesday morning in Johnson's animal-abuse case.

Johnson, a Los Angeles County fire chief who supervised stations in Pomona and other cities in the San Gabriel Valley, is accused of beating his neighbor's puppy with a rock. The puppy was euthanized.

will.bigham@inlandnewspapers.com

Toddler nearly drowns in Eastvale

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:22:19 -0800

A toddler nearly drowned Saturday in Eastvale.

The 1-year-old girl was found breathing when Riverside County Firefighters arrived about 11:45 a.m. at the home in the 6200 block of Cedar Creek Road, according to the department's Web site.

Firefighters from the Eastvale station took the girl to a local hospital.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Ex-OC sheriff gets 5 1/2 years in prison

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:08:13 -0800

SANTA ANA (AP) - Former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for witness tampering.

- The Associated Press

Two men arrested after Rancho Cucamonga resident reports suspicious activity

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:04:43 -0800

Two men were arrested on suspicion of transporting and selling a controlled substance after a concerned citizen reported their behavior.

Clifford Johnson, 24 and Deandre Gosha, 23, both of Pomona were booked at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga Monday, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff's news release. Gosha is currently on parole for similar charges.

A Rancho Cucamonga resident called deputies about 10:50 a.m. and reported that two men sitting in a Cadillac Seville were acting suspiciously, according to the news release. The vehicle was backed into a parking stall at the Town and Country Liquor Store at 19th Street and Archibald Avenue.

Deputies discovered Johnson and Gosha had "several baggies containing a substance believed to be methamphetamine and marijuana," according to the news release.

- lori.consalvo@inlandnewspapers.com

Suspect in R.C. home burglaries was recently acquitted of murder

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:25:33 -0800

One of the reputed gang members charged this month with burglarizing homes in Rancho Cucamonga was tried and recently acquitted of murder in Riverside County.

Edward Lamar Scott, 20, was among 15 people charged with murder following the February 2006 shooting deaths of two men in Banning.

A Riverside Superior Court jury acquitted Scott of murder on Jan. 16, 2009, but found him guilty of a felony street-gang charge.

Scott was jailed awaiting trial after his arrest on suspicion of murder in February 2006, and was released from custody when he was acquitted of murder. His sentencing in the case is pending.

About three months after his release, Scott and five other people were arrested in connection with a recent string of residential burglaries in Rancho Cucamonga and other affluent communities along the 210 Freeway.

Scott and 16-year-old Anthony Hicks were arrested April 14 in the area of Candlewood Street and Lockhaven Avenue after a neighbor called sheriff's deputies to report suspicious activity.

When deputies arrived, they saw three men loading a TV into a parked car. Deputies arrested Scott and Hicks at the scene.

The third man -- 20-year-old Craisean Ryan Evans -- allegedly ran from the scene and was arrested April 17.

Prosecutors have accused the men of burglarizing a home earlier in the day on April 14 in the 7500 block of Center Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga.