December 2007 Archives

This from reporter Brian Day who reports that Pasadena Police are on "plastic chair patrol" today. Apparently, patrons of the coveted Tournament of Roses parade are not allowed to leave their belongings unattended on the parade route. That includes those ever popular plastic chairs usually used as placemarkers for eager parade watchers. Read on:

Police have arrested Ernesto Rosas, 24, of Montebello, for allegedly crushing two men with his SUV at a house party on Sunday, killing one and injuring another.

Rosas was detained walking on the streets in Montebello on Sunday afternoon. He was arrested on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Zizi said.
Authorities believe Rosas was at a house party in the 7700 block of Vanport Avenue about 1 a.m. Sunday when he started to become “unruly,” according to Zizi.

Francisco Vasquez, 24, who lived in the Vanport home and his friend Sean Nunez, 26, of Los Angeles, asked Rosas to leave and escorted Rosas out to his car.
While Vasquez and Nunez were walking back to the house, Rosas allegedly backed his 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe into the men, Zizi said.
Nunez became pinned between the Tahoe and another car, and was crushed by the impact, Zizi said. He died on scene.
Vasquez was hit but managed to avoid being crushed, Zizi said. He was treated and released at the scene with minor injuries.

Zizi wouldn’t say if Rosas’ alleged acts were retaliation for getting kicked out of the pary. But he did say that witness reports lead police to believe that Rosas intentionally backed his Tahoe into the two men. Zizi did not know if Rosas was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident. He was unsure whether toxicology reports were even ordered.
“But I can tell you that that is not a defense for this crime,” Zizi said.

A press conference is scheduled for noon today at the CHP's Santa Fe Springs office. Apparently, Nunez' family members will make statements and police will release Rosas' booking photo.

The victim in the Pico Rivera homicide has been identified as 22-year-old Jacklyn Villanueva. We still don't know  where she was from, but we are searching for more information about Jacklyn now.

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A woman was stabbed to death early Friday outside a home on Myrtle in Pico. It was the city's ninth murder of 2007. The 20-year-old victim has not been identified by the Coroner's Department, officials said.

Frank,
 
Read your blog in reference to the letter I sent out to the different media groups.

UPDATED: 1/22/08

The post has been removed by me because it contained no local relevance.

Still haven't worked out the bugs to include a map just yet, but the SGV Homicide datebase is up to date and ready for purusal.

The tally to date for the SGV, Whittier and Pasadena is 87. Not sure how that compares to last year.  The LAT Homicide Report lists 820 homicides for the county. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reports 320 in its service area for 2007. That's compared to 402 in 2006.  

We were asleep at the wheel and missed getting the news story about the shooting at Colorado and Fair Oaks in today's paper.

The Times got the news in their B-Section with quotes from Lt. Randall Taylor and Chief Barney Melekian.

Reporter Caroline An was at the scene moments after the shooting occurred and was able to get some color. She is working on a story.

11:42 A.M. UPDATE ADDED HERE.... I just read our initial story on the shooting and what strikes me is how Lt. Taylor apparently inplied that Pasadena officers chased down the shooting suspect and captured him moments after the incident.

In fact, cops were nowhere around when it went down and the shooter was chased down and captured by volunteers in Old Town there to guide tourists around.

UPDATE ENDS HERE

In my opinion, here's some of what we need to find out:

• How will this incident affect security in the lead up to the Rose Parade? Wasn't it just last week that Melekian said security was so tight that he wouldn't allow the Falun Gong chapter to have their own pre-parade event?
• How will it affect shopping? There are plenty of tourists in town for the Rose Bowl game. Are they now going to travel to safer shopping destinations?
• Is this a spill over from the increased violence plaguing Northwest Pasadena throughout the year?
• The police department said it has no plans for beefed up security in Old Town. Why not?

Old Town Pasadena, known as a premier shopping and restaurant destination was instead the scene of a shooting Wednesday night in which an Arcadia man was injured. Police are saying the shooting was the result of a drug deal gone bad. An 18-year-old is in custody and a 23-year-old is at large.

Here's Tania Chatila's map of key points in the incident:

Last week we chronicled the travails of riding Metro with a bike.

This week Crime Scene reprinted a letter from a true crime author who claimed to have intimate knowledge of our computer systems. The Crime Scene Question was: Should We Post "The Story" Here?

UPDATED 1/22/08

I've removed this post because it contains no local relevance.

This from KCBS/KCAL:

LOS ANGELES (CBS) ― The alleged "Newlywed Bandits," believed to be responsible for five Los Angeles-area bank robberies in a three-week span, pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges of bank robbery and conspiracy.

Rayceana Racheal Rocha, 22, and Paul Harlen Meyercamp Jr., 26, entered their pleas before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert Block. At one point, like a couple in love, Rocha and Meyercamp whispered to each other, looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

The unmarried couple, christened "the Newlywed Bandits" by an FBI agent who watched them on surveillance tapes, were arrested last month when they allegedly robbed a pedestrian and carjacked a vehicle in Las Vegas, then led police on a pursuit.

Rocha, who was driving, crashed the vehicle and was taken into custody. Meyercamp was caught following a brief foot pursuit, the FBI said.

Between Oct. 18 and Nov. 8, they allegedly robbed a Wells Fargo branch in La Habra, East West Bank branches in El Monte and Diamond Bar, a Bank of America in Duarte and a Downey Savings in Claremont.

Rocha is a student at Rio Hondo Community College in Whittier and Meyercamp is on parole, according to the FBI.

COVINA — Police have identified an Azusa man who was killed in a stabbing Sunday that left another man seriously injured.

Paul Brizuela, 20, was pronounced dead at an area hospital shortly after the incident, Covina police Sgt. David Foster said Sunday in a written release.

Matthew Flores, 19, of West Covina was recovering from his injuries in “serious but stable” condition, Foster said. Both men suffered multiple stab wounds, he said.

The attack occurred just after midnight behind a convalescent home in the 300 block of West Rowland Street, police said.
No suspect description was available, and no motive was known, said Covina police Sgt. Dave Povero.
The investigation is ongoing, Povero added. Anyone with information should contact the Covina Police Department at (626) 858-4413.

This from the Riverside Press Enterprise:

MURRIETA - For 14 years, Santa and his helpers sprinkled Christmas goodwill and holiday magic in Murrieta neighborhoods with nary a "bah humbug" or a Grinchy sneer -- until Wednesday.

Two teenage volunteers dressed as Rudolph and Frosty said they were roughed up while dancing and singing for an audience of 300. Their names were not released. Rudolph suffered an injured back and neck, while Frosty has a sprained wrist.

Murrieta police are asking for the public's help in what is dubbed the "Rudolph Caper."

This comment was posted a few hours ago below an entry about Maria Hicks.

You might remember Hicks, a Pico Rivera grandmother, was murdered by taggers when she stopped to confront them earlier this year. Here's what a former Pico resident had to say:

My wife's family lived a block away from where this tragedy happened in Pico. We moved to Arizona in 2006 because there was to much gang violence in north Pico. The Brown Authority gang in that area was fighting with Pico Viejo for territory . I got robbed at gun point in front of her house the day before Christmas just one block from where this grandmother got shot. They tried to car jack me but I left the keys in the house. Cops told me they were probably trying to find a car to do a drive by to get even for a shooting of their guys a few days before. For a second I thought I was going to die. I am a honest, working, family guy with no gang ties who was getting ready to celebrate my first Christmas with my baby girl and wife. These gang members have no regard for the citizens who value life. I never will forget what happened to me and hope and pray for the family of this tragedy. I grew up in San Gabriel and know all to well about Sangra. U Could not go to Smith park to swim or play basketball because gang activity there. I remember they robbed my friend for his Nike shoes! My advice for people living in these areas is to move away. As hard as it sounds just try, because the gangs violence will never end. Where I live now in AZ has had 1 homicide (it was domestic incident ) in 2007 and prior to that had not had one in 3 years plus has no gangs. All the violence in Arizona is mostly concentrated to downtown Phoenix region and Mesa. The police here do a great job preventing crime. The suburbs are pretty safe unlike those in San Gabriel Valley. Every city in the SGV has multiple gangs, from Alhambra/Padadena/west cov./B.P/Arcadia/Pomona..u name it. It is amazing to be able to play with your kids in the park with out having to worry about anything. Or to go for a walk in the evening and not have to worry about every car that passes by. To drive around the neighborhoods and not see tagging. The only downside is it is hot in the summer. I wish you all in SGV good luck and god bless

This from Brian Day:

Arcadia PD Log Enrty

Sunday, Dec. 9

A residential burglary occurred in the 1000 block of Mayflower between 11:08 p.m. and 11:10 p.m. A resident came home and found a male Hispanic suspect exit the rear of the garage. She confronted the suspect, and he apologized and returned a GPS system that he had just stolen from a vehicle in the garage.

 

A man died today while in the custody of the Alhambra Police Department, authorities said.

Sheriff’s detectives were sent to the police station to assist in the investigation, according to the Sheriff’s

Headquarters Bureau.

The man was not identified. His death was reported about 9:15 a.m. Friday.

No further information was available.

  Sheriff's deputies and state parole agents waited outside a La Puente home for eight hours Thursday before busting in with tear gas and discovering their wanted man had escaped.

When officers on scene were asked who they were looking for, none knew exactly .... hmmmm

That said, today we have a name and a picture. You are looking at La Puente resident Jesus Ramiro Talamantes, DOB 2/15/72.

He's on the lam.

BTW, that's AC/DC playing "Shoot to Thrill" in the background.

It also says Paris Hilton didn't get preferential treatment. The report, released this afternoon by the OIR goes into a wide variety of other topics regarding the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

UPDATE #1 3:44 p.m. 12/20/07

It's funny how we focus on the celebrity aspects of a report like this and miss some of the more important details. A whole section of the report deals with in custody deaths and while it is entirely without names...there is a curious entry on page 24:

C A S E A 76-year old inmate went down in a dorm at North County Correctional Facility and
subsequently died. He had been seated on his lower bunk and, when he tried to get up,
he fell and struck his head on the floor. While being treated for the resulting laceration,
he complained of chest pains and was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where
he was treated for various ailments, went into cardiac arrest, and died three days later.
An NCCF sergeant interviewed several inmates assigned to bunks near the deceased
inmate’s. All said that the inmate had been in poor health, and none noted anything
unusual about the fall or the circumstances surrounding it. Even though the facts
suggested this elderly inmate died from natural causes, because the deceased inmate had
gained notoriety for his role in the murder of an LAPD officer decades earlier, both
Homicide and IAB investigators responded to the scene to insure there was no suspicious
activity. The on-call OIR attorney likewise rolled out. In the end, the coroner determined
the inmate had died of natural causes. However, the case did raise the issue of
whether this particular inmate, given his age and background, should have been housed
in a more appropriate location than a general population dormitory. Housing older
inmates is an ongoing problem for the jails, and the LASD used this case as an occasion
to renew its efforts to create specialized “old man” dorms or housing units.

Obviously this refers to Jimmy Lee Smith, one of the infamous Onion Field Killers.

I plan on linking to the complete report in a post later today.

UPDATE #2 4:57 p.m. 12-20-07

And....here  is the report.

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Arcadia police arrested a 44-year-old high-risk sex offender Thursday morning on a parole violation. Apparently, Paul Jeffrey Cricks, of Arcadia, didn't charge his electronic ankle bracelet – which has a global positioning system attached to it – and essentially disappeared from parole officers for a few days.

When the state agents realized Wednesday they weren't getting a signal from the bracelet, they went to Cricks' house in the 600 block of Baldwin Avenue. After breaking down the door, they found personal items, the bracelet's charger but no Cricks.

Further investigation found the offender had skipped out on work the last couple of days. He works at a tire shop in La Puente, according to police.

It wasn't until Thursday morning that Cricks was finally found. Arcadia officers, following up on the case, went back to Cricks' home. This time he was there, along with a small amount of narcotics, according to Arcadia police Lt. Larry Goodman.

So where was this offender – previously convicted of annoying or molesting children and indecent exposure – hiding out the last few days? No one seems to know.

All police have to say is the fact that Cricks was MIA was a major "public safety" concern. Really? But now he's in custody, so I guess the game of Where's Waldo? .... er.... Where's Cricks? is over.

Crime scene readers might recognize the address in the post below as the mobile home park where three members of a family killed by street racers lived. The copy comes from an email sent by Lt. Ralph Batres of the El Monte PD. As for the long faces in the shot....Maybe Santa's fatigued. He's been to a lot of places in the past few days.

On 12-19-07, Wed., at 5:30 p.m., due to the efforts of Agent Eric Sanchez of the El Monte Police Department and Manager Diana Doo of the Brookside Country Club located at 12700 Elliott in El Monte, approximately 200 children were able to receive gifts with Santa Claus.  As you can see, the children wore their “happy faces” to welcome Santa.

 

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department organized a sting operation, dubbed Operation Red Light, with other area law enforcement agencies to disrupt prostitution operations advertising on the internet Dec. 19, 2007.  L.A. County Sheriff's deputies arrested and cited this prostitution suspect at the Monrovia Oak Tree Inn after calling the
Internet advertisement of Unlimited Escorts.

This photo was taken by staffer Leo Jarzomb.

Reporter Jennifer McLain tagged along with the cops on the sting for two days. In all 37 arrests were made in area hotels, underground brothels and massage parlors. McLain's story will run in Thursday's paper.

The city of Albuquerque is suing a company that hired two traveling salesmen accused of killing an elderly couple and stealing their camera.

One of the two salesmen charged in the case was identified last week as Travis Rowley, a native of Glendora, who has had some run-ins with police in Orange County.

Here's a brief that appeared in the Santa Fe New Mexican this week:

Salesmen's company sued

ALBUQUERQUE — A Nevada company that employed two traveling magazine salesmen accused of killing an elderly Albuquerque couple this month is being sued by the city of Albuquerque.

The lawsuit accuses Integrity Program of not conducting background checks on the two men or otherwise doing an adequate job of ensuring they would not be a danger to the city. The city is seeking punitive damages and a restraining order that would prevent the company from doing business in Albuquerque.

"All we have to show is that (Integrity Program) violated our ordinance," said Assistant City Attorney Greg Wheeler.

Integrity Program did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

The company employed Travis Rowley, 23, and Michael Lee, 21, to sell magazine subscriptions in the Albuquerque area. The two men are charged with murder in the Dec. 4 deaths of Tak Yi, 79, and his wife, Pung Yi, 69. The couple was found beaten to death in their home.

Rowley and Lee remain in the Metropolitan Detention Center in lieu of $2 million cash bond each.

 

I don't know how we missed this, but here's a Pasadena item from Discovery News that ran in November but's sort of related to a story from earlier this week. Of course the Chippies didn't need any fancy stuff, all it took was the suspect ramming his Nissan Titan into a mountainside at 70 mph. The item begins below:

Nov. 29, 2007 -- The same microwave radiation that reheats pizza can be used to fry the electrical systems in cars, stopping them dead in their tracks.

Emitted from a rooftop device, the radiation could be used by law enforcement officers to put an end to dangerous car chases or by military personnel as a non-lethal way of disabling vehicles that get too close for comfort.

"The idea is to warn an automobile some distance away from a high-value target like a military barrack or a communication center. If they don't comply, you just zap them and it prevents them from coming closer," said James Tatoian, CEO of Eureka Aerospace in Pasadena, Calif.

This from MTV.com:

On the heels of the announcement that Britney Spears' 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn, is pregnant with her first child comes word that the parenting book due for release in the spring from the girls' mom, Lynne Spears, has been delayed. People magazine reports that the book has been put on indefinite hold by publisher Thomas Nelson, which puts out inspirational books and Bibles.

"The book is delayed indefinitely. It's delayed, not cancelled," a spokesperson told the magazine. The spokesperson said the book, which Publisher's Weekly had described as "Lynne Spears' personal story of raising high-profile children while coming from a low-profile Louisiana community," was actually put on hold last week, but declined to say whether the focus of the book will change in light of Jamie Lynn's pregnancy announcement, or if the decision was a result of the news about the latest scandal to rock the family.

In October, Spears and Thomas Nelson announced the deal for the book, which was slated to come out on Mother's Day under the title "Pop Culture Mom: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World." At the time, a publishing rep told Us that it would be a parenting book "that's going to have faith elements to it." A manuscript was expected by this month

I especially like the line  that reads: "raising high-profile children while coming from a low-profile Louisiana community."

What is that a new euphemism for trailer park?

.

 

 

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is highlighting the missing grandchildren of U.S. Rep Gary Miller on its home page.

Here's the poster seeking information. The picture of Jennifer Dejongh/Jennifer Lopez comes from the site.

Jude Lopez, Jennifer's father,  sent me this information with some comments of his own:

I noticed that pictures of my daughter and her kids appear on the Missing and Exploited Children.  I don’t think they should be there because my daughter had custody when she failed to take the children for a visit.  If you look at the other pictures, those issues are a lot more serious.  There must be some rules about having your picture displayed on this website. Maybe it has to do with possible harm.  Last week the poster indicated that there was a federal warrant.  I called and asked for the warrant number and they said they couldn’t give it out.  Now they changed it to a felony warrant.  I don’t know if that is true.  I believe Gary Miller had his hand in this especially since the photos used were the passport photos.  I don’t believe, even with all your resources, you could get those photos.
 

He's back from Minnesota but Isaac Campbell was not ready Tuesday to enter a plea in the state's case against him.

Here's the story from PSN's Molly Okeon:

Isaac Campbell, 32, appeared in Alhambra Superior Court on Tuesday, wearing a blue jumpsuit and glasses.
Campbell is charged in the death of Liya “Jessie” Lu, 31, of San Gabriel. He was being held in lieu of $1.2 million bail.
Campbell is also facing two marijuana charges in a separate case.
Lu, who was studying to be a nurse at Pasadena City College, was working two part-time jobs as a Kaiser Permanente Hospital medical assistant and a secretary in a law office. She had moved from China to the United States nine years ago.
Lu’s body was found in the 1700 block of South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia in September.
She was reported missing to the San Gabriel Police Department on Aug. 11 after she failed to return from a visit to Campbell’s apartment, officials said.
Authorities said Campbell was called in for questioning briefly, then fled to Minnesota, from which he was extradited.
Before leaving town, Campbell asked a friend who owned the Arcadia home at which Lu’s body was found to store several items, including a vehicle and a trash can, officials said.
The friend discovered Lu’s body sealed in a plastic garbage bag and covered with kitty litter in the trash can, officials said.
Lu’s parents, Yongtai Lu and Shilan Guo, who are in the U.S. from China for the court proceedings, were present at the hearing, along with friends of their daughter’s.
According to her cousin, Jeremy Zhou a San Gabriel resident, Lu has two brothers, 40-year-old Jun and 36-year-old Gang, both of whom live in China.

The Wrong Slip Bandit is back. And he's still targeting Bank of the West.

Sources tell Crime Scene that the bandit pictured on the left hit the Bank of the West on Durfee Road in South El Monte Monday afternoon.

He took an undisclosed amount of cash. But no doubt he had another picture taken for the inevitable court case. We profiled this guy in July, about the time the FBI unveiled their LA bank robbery website.

Here's a story from Whittier reporter Ruby Gonzales that ran back then:

He fills out a withdrawal slip, stands in line and even subjects himself to being questioned by tellers.  But the only true thing on the slip is the amount he wants. 

Dubbed "the Wrong Slip Bandit" by the FBI, this robber has struck Bank of the West locations in Pico Rivera, Commerce, Downey and South El Monte within the past three months. Authorities want help in finding him before he makes another unauthorized withdrawal. 

"He pretends to be there for bank business," said FBI Special Agent Erik Arbuthnot. 

Arbuthnot said the bandit's only robbed Bank of the West and always uses a savings withdrawal slip. 
 

Because the bandit writes a bogus account number on the slip, tellers have asked him for identification and even an address. Sometimes he has to make his intentions clear to the victims. 
 

After being asked for an ID, the bandit finally showed his hand.

"He said,`You don't understand. You're getting robbed. I have a gun. Give me the money,"' Arbuthnot said. 
 
 

Yesterday I speculated that Ruben Smith, the Azusa man who led police on a wild chase across the San Gabriel Valley, was a pool man.

Guess what? Ruben Smith is a pool man.

That stuff in the back of his truck is chemicals and tools used to clean pools.

Ruben Smith, 41, of Azusa leads CHP officers on a high speed pursuit east along the San Bernardino Freeway during rush hour.

The pursuit, which began in Azusa, went down the 605, out the 60 up the 5, back on the 10 flipping through the bus terminal in El Monte, back out on the 10, in search of the 710 extension at Valley boulevard, back on the 10 again and up the 605 over on the 210 and up into the Azusa Canyon.

Rueben flipped his Nissan Titan pickup and was taken by helicopter to LA County USC Medical center late Monday, officials said.

The picture here comes from staff photog Raul Roa.

Apparently these guys may be responsible for as many as 25 robberies in Los Angeles County. They were picked up in San Luis Obispo apparently on their way to another bank, officials said.

Here's the mug shots.

Here's the story from the San Luis Obispo Tribune.

San Luis Obispo police said Monday the group of men they arrested last week after one of their cars was traced back to an L.A.-area bank robbery could be responsible for as many as 25 bank robberies in Southern California and neighboring states over the last two years.

SLO detectives were investigating the Nov. 21 takeover-style robbery of the Downey Savings and Loan bank in San Luis Obispo when they received information leading them to a man named Leonard Jones, according to a press release today from San Luis Obispo police. Jones was believed to be the ringleader of a Los Angeles-based group that local police thought might be responsible for the Nov. 21 heist.

Further, the FBI told SLO police that Jones and his group might be behind as many as 25 robberies in Southern California and neighboring states over the last two years. The FBI has christened the group the “"Big Money Bandits,”" because the robbers yell “"Give us the big money,”" during their heists.

SLO police said the methods and descriptions of suspects in the Big Money Bandit robberies are similar to the Downey Savings incident.

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This is how we believe the pursuit went down. The information comes from listening on the scanner, wire service reports and watching KCAL, KNBC and KABC. Still very little information on the suspect or what started the pursuit. One wire service is reporting erroneously that the pursuit began in Vernon. We know it was San Dimas deputies who initiated the chase after reports of an assault with a deadly weapon. 

The pursuit began in the 5000 of Rockvale Avenue in Azusa near Vernon Avenue!!!

San Dimas Sheriff's deputies are involved in the pursuit of a possibly armed suspect on the southbound 605 Freeway. The pursuit began about 2:30 p.m. It's now been turned over the the California Highway Patrol, officials said.

KCAL 9 is now carrying the pursuit live....my question? is this a pool man, looks like chemicals in the back fo the truck...

btw this was headlined High Speed Pursuit but it hasn't been going fast .....so I changed it to Police pursuit.

There's at least eight of us gathered around the newsroom television watching this unfold...I will be sending a reporter out if it goes bad.. or gets weird

KCAL 9 says they're doing exclusive live coverage...

well not quite exclusive. We had it here first and we're still blogging it....

4:10 p.m. UPDATE This guy has been pretty much all over the San Gabriel Valley. I started a google map but got interrupted for a meeting. KABC says the suspect (who looks like  a pool man to me) is in Alhambra can see hiom in the bus lane now, where he pulled an interesting maneuver earlier)

4:40 p.m. It's all over in a flash when suspect goes up the Azusa Canyon and wrecks his Nissan Titan before being taken into custody.

It was a family affair in Pomona Court today as the Canizalez and Morones families went through Superior Court arraignments for felony aiding and abetting.

El Monte residents Martin Morones and Robert Canizalez are accused of participating in a street race that resulted in the death of Dora Groce and her children Robert, 8, and Catherine, 3.

Brothers of both men are accused of helping Morones flee the crime scene and stay gone for several days.

All have entered not guilty pleas in the case.

Just days after Crime Scene runs its first ever transportation story, we have another.  This from KCBS 2 KCAL 9:

Authorities traced cell-phone signals Sunday to find and arrest a man who left a suspicious package on a public bus, and then repeatedly phoned in bomb threats. The satchel was blown up by a bomb squad, but contained only "miscellaneous papers," according to Lt. Keith Obenberger of the sheriff's Transit Services Bureau.

The bomb threats kept coming, and sheriff's detectives were able to trace the man's cell-phone transmissions to a neighborhood near East Colorado Boulevard and North First Street in Arcadia.

"I believe we found him (the suspect) on the street," Obenberger said. The incident started at about 9:45 a.m., when the suspect made several calls warning that there was going to be a bomb on a bus, singling out the bus route number.

Deputies notified the bus driver, who said he found an unattended package underneath one of the rear seats in his bus, he said.

Deputies and a bomb squad rushed to the area of Baldwin Avenue and Las Tunas Drive, evacuating what they said was a "large circumference" of neighboring businesses and an apartment building, Obenberger said.

The squad blew the suspicious package apart at about 11:30 a.m., and the suspect "kept making more threat," Obenberger said. "We were able to narrow down where he was at."

The man, whose name has not been released, was booked at the sheriff's Temple station on suspicion of making terrorist threats and false reporting of a bomb.

Reporter Fred Ortega shot this picture of Christmas in a homeless camp beneath Rosemead Boulevard, along the Rio Hondo.

Residents of the camp said it was raided by El Monte police Thursday night after they were sent to a cold weather shelter across town.

The El Monte Police Department has begun an Internal Affairs investigation into the incident.

According to the FBI and some published reports, Los Angeles no longer holds the heavyweight title as Bank Robbery Capitol of the United States.

Ladies and Gentleman meet the new champion: Atlanta, Georgia.

The key lines from this story as told by Atlanta's Channel 11 (11Alive):

There were 350 bank robberies in the Atlanta division of the FBI from October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2007. FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett said, “That surpasses every other division in the nation for bank robberies.”

The FBI says it is part of a disturbing trend for Atlanta banks. In fiscal year 2005, there were 208 bank robberies. In fiscal year 2006, there were 249 bank robberies. This past fiscal year 2007 far surpassed last year’s numbers by 101 bank robberies.

I got this letter last weekend. It speaks for itself, (I've not edited it either)

 I was just surfing around and found your page very interesting. I was wondering what your thoughts would be on an incident that happened to my husband on the gold line this past week.  He was riding his bike on the train when an officer stopped him asked him for his ticket and warns him about having the bike on the train.

 My husband asks him for the schedule of when bikes are permitted. The officer did not know the schedule was angered at the question taking it as questioning his authority, threatened to take my husband’s bike and tare up his ticket. When my husband stated to him that it is his right to question his intentions the officer when into a rage and threatened to kill my husband. 

 When the main reason I am telling you this is that we made 3 complaints, why 3. The fist one was never taken the second was lost and it wasn’t until we spoke to a watch commander at a different department that we learned the Metro sheriffs handle all there own complaints and lost reports are a recurring issue.

This is unacceptable!!!!!!!.

To put top it all off we have just found that my husband’s supervisor also complained about the same sheriff and was latter threatened by him for complaining. I feel he is a serious threat to the community and should be removed from his current duties. We literally had to accuse them of destroying our report so we could get some kind of reference number witch was nonexistent the first couple of time we called. I wish I could say this is the only incident we have had with our corrupted system but I have court document and internal affairs reports that show that we as a society are not protected form our true terrorists.

 

On November 3, 2007, Victim Bernardo Mendoza was shot and killed at “My Place Bar” in the Los Angeles County unincorporated area of Bassett.

Julio “Rocky” Duenas was identified as being in the area on the night of the shooting. Detectives are seeking to question Julio Duenas regarding the incident.

Julio Duenas is believed to live in the southeast Los Angeles area and is known to have an interest in horses. He was last seen driving a grey or silver Toyota Camry.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.

Attention: SERGEANT E. GODFREY at (323) 890-5632 or

DETECTIVE P. MARTINEZ at (323) 890-5629

File Number 007-19353-1462-011 Phone (323) 890-5500 Fax (323) 887-1160

L.A.S.D. Homicide Bureau, 5747 Rickenbacker Road, Commerce 90040 (dr)

The headline for this story: (pretty damn compelling)

L.A. Gangs: Nine Miles and Spreading

More codeless, arbitrary and brutal than ever... and coming to a neighborhood near you.

By PETER LANDESMAN

This is quite a lengthy piece, well written, and with an interesting history of how it wound up in the Weekly.

Coroner's case # 2007-9025 (not yet entered in the homicide database). Acosta was shot several times while he rode his motorcycle with a friend in a Duarte neighborhood. His friend, still not identified, was also shot. A mem

Using court documents, the North County Times reveals a tale of two teen girls suspected of planning a carjacking and killing so they could go to Knott's Scary Farm.

Francisco Sanchez, the San Gabriel Valley's jumping man, tied up traffic on the 210 Tuesay night during a suicide attempt.

Over the years, Sanchez has tried jumping from bridges, palm trees, tall buildings and other locales throughout the San Gabriel Valley. Apparently he's got two prosthetic legs from at least one failed attempt.

I recently wrote a column about Mr. Sanchez, but had no idea he was still around. I really hope he's able to get some help this time.

Here's Brian Day's article from last night:

DUARTE - A man was in custody late Tuesday night after threatening to jump from a pedestrian overpass, officials said.

Francisco Sanchez, in his late 30s, surrendered to sheriff's deputies and fire officials and was taken into custody just before 8 p.m.

The incident was reported about 6:20 p.m. on the 210 Freeway at Buena Vista Street, according to California Highway Patrol Lt. Merritt Mielke.

Sanchez cut through chain link fencing on the Broadland Avenue overpass, and pulled himself through, according to CHP Sgt. Kevin Porter.

Sanchez has done this numerous times over recent years, sheriff's and CHP officials said.

Sanchez has two prosthetic legs from when he broke both ankles jumping from an overpass on the 605 Freeway in 2003, according to a 2006 article in this newspaper.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department crisis negotiator was summoned to the scene, officials said.

Local fire departments also arrived at the scene and deployed air bags on the freeway beneath the pedestrian overpass in case the man decided to jump, Mielke said.

A Sig Alert had been issued and traffic in both directions of the 210 freeway was held up for almost two hours.

Sheriff's Temple station Lt. Mike O'Shea said he did not know exactly where Sanchez was taken Tuesday, but he said it was almost certainly a mental health facility of some kind.

"There's nothing criminal about trying to kill yourself," he said.

Brian Day will have a touching story about Arcadia's "Lady in the Lake" in tomorrow's newspaper.

It tells the story of Lainie Cole, Arroyo High School grad, through the eyes of a cousin, and details the mystery surrounding Cole's death as Sheriff's detectives and coroner's investigators piece together her last days.

Cole was found floating in a Peck Road percolation pond late last week. Her death has been classified as "suspicious" but not a homicide.

Apparently, there will be a memorial fund set up by former classmates of Cole's. Here's a website Brian points to in his story.

Here's another apparently affiliated with Arroyo High. Its a memorial for fallen classmates.

This morning reporter Tania Chatila got a call from a woman letting her know detectives were at an El Monte ARCO station investigating a potential stolen credit and debit scam. The scam works by capturing magnetic information from the strip on the back of your card. Here's Tania's dispatch from the field:

In the time I've spent covering fraudulent crime stories, I've built up quite a list of do's and dont's when it comes to credit and debit card use. One of those dont's is the idea that when given the choice, people should use their debit cards as a credit transaction, requiring no pin number, instead of a debit transaction, requiring a pin number. This is to protect from debit card fraud.

But when the criminals are coming up with advanced enough technology to steal your information both ways, what's the point? El Monte Police detectives are investigating at least 15 cases of credit card fraud linked to an Arco Gas station near the El Monte airport. In this case, police believe the suspects used technology that could read both electronic strips on the back of cards and pin numbers.

So either way, the patrons of this popular gas station were doomed.

A man’s body was found today near  the Pomona (60) Freeway in South El Monte. The discovery was made about 9:40 a.m., said California Highway Patrol Officer Francisco Villalobos.

Here's the CHP's log of the incident.

Homicide investigators were sent to the scene, said Deputy Oscar Butao of the
Sheriff’s Headquarters Bureau.

John Doe sends us this tidbit about an Arcadia man from the Palm Springs newspaper.

FBI's got no apparent name for this guy, so we're taking it upon ourselves to name him "The Mummy Bandit"

Here's the story from correspondent Brian Day:

MONTEBELLO — An armed bank robber with gauze bandages wrapped around his head escaped with about $2,000 after a heist Monday, officials said.
The crime was reported about 1:05 p.m. at the Union Bank of California, 850 N. Wilcox Ave., said Montebello police Lt. Govan Yee.
The robber was described only as a male, possibly black, Yee said. Witnesses did not get a clear view of the man because of the gauze he wore as a mask, he added.
The man displayed a pistol and demanded cash from a teller, said Yee.
There were 4 to 5 customers inside the bank, and about a half-dozen employees, Yee said.
The suspect left through the front door, and was last seen heading northeast from the bank on foot, said Yee.
No injuries were reported.

First a letter, then some comments. It's all coming together now on Editor's Corner.

The gist of it is that Ralph "Perrico" Rocha, who did time in the Federal Eme case, is ruffling some feathers now that he's returned to civilian life in the SGV.

Travis R. Rowley, charged with two murders in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, had a criminal record in Orange County according to public documents. In June Rowley was sentenced to probation for pleading guilty to petty theft.

The probation was revoked in September, according to those same documents.

Along with Michael Lee, of Boston MA, Rowley, 23,  is charged in the brutal beating deaths of Tak Yi and Pung Yi, described as prominent members of Albuquerque's Korean community.

Rowley confessed to taking part in the killing, according to a police report.

We'll post up some of these documents later. In the meantime, we'll continue to look for Rowley's connections to the SGV.

A Glendora man selling magazines door-to-door in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been arrested in connection with the murder of a prominent member of the city's Korean community.

Travis Rowley, 23, of Glendora was arrested Friday.

There are several stories on the Internet about this slaying. Including the Albuquerque Tribune's coverage.

 Rowley is being held in lieu of $2 million in Bernalillo County on two counts of murder.

Homicide investigators made two arrests in the killing of Luis and Pepe Estrada of Baldwin Park. The father and son were shot to death outside their Downing Avenue home on Nov. 14.

Police now say that Luis was wrongfully targeted by gang members seeking one of his family instead.

The man accused of killing his girlfriend then dumping her body in a trashcan, covering it with kitty litter then leaving the can in his friend's Arcadia backyard has been extradited to LA from Hennepin County Jail in Minnesota.

Isaac Campbell is due in Alhambra court on Dec. 18, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's inmate locator.

Crime scene thanks the anonymous tipster for the heads up.

Fred Ortega has posted our initial story on the County/State EME prosecution here.

Fred says its a pretty complicated story involving plots within plots and all sorts of clandestine surveillance around the San Gabriel Valley. The scope of the investigation begins in August and concludes just last weekend.

More TK

Apparently the case unveiled today involves six members of a criminal gang involved in a conspiracy to murder. Wiretaps were used to make the case.

The target was Rafael Gonzalez Munoz Jr. AKA Cisco noted as an Emero in the charging documents.

Named in the case are David Sahagun , Yvonne Colleen Montes, George Bravo, Anthony Palacios, Angelita Martinez.

They discussed meeting their victim at Margarita Jones in West Covina....

Another wiretap in the case took place at 307 south Vermont in Glendora.

More TK

some in the case are related to Jacques Padilla,  a man named by the cops as an Emero.  Another potential victim maybe in protective custody at Cochrane state prison. 

5:26 p.m. update. There is some confusion about Mr. Padilla's nickname. We deleted it from the post.

5:29 p.m. update, sheriff's used the nickname "Jocko"  when referring to Mr. Padilla.

Visits by sheriff's homicide detectives to Soledad Prison during their investigation of the March 2006 Robert Whitehead murder in West Valinda apparently opened up a whole can of worms for LA Eme.

We dont' know the full reach of this but it sounds like it may be fairly extensive. Press conference on the deal at 11 a.m.

 UPDATE:

Here's the sheriff's press release:

District Attorney Steve Cooley, Supervisor Gloria Molina, Sheriff’s Chief Richard Castro and other top sheriff’s officials, will announce the arrests of numerous members of a street gang.
The arrests were made during the service of search warrants by a multi- agency task
force.

There's an interesting discussion taking place among the comments in a post from earlier this week about little Devon Williams, who was killed along with his brother and dad at their home in Rowland Heights during August.

Devon's grandmother Jan has been among those in the discussion and she's has exhibited quite an enormous amount of dignity while explaining some of her feelings.

A memorial site Tuesday,  December 4, 2007 for Angela Chung 19, of Temple City, who was killed in a possible road-racing incident in the early hours of Sunday morning.  A 17-year-old girl was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter. The memorial site of the accidentwas Rosemead Boulevard and Las Tunas Drive in Temple City. (SGVN/Photo by Walt Mancini/SXCity)

UPDATE 9:48 p.m. 12-4-07

Somehow the photo of the Memorial didn't post here. It's very nice. There is a framed photo of Angela, several candles and what appear to be stuffed animals. I will get the photo posted here Wednesday morning.

Angela will also unfortunately be added to the growing homicide database as number 81 for the year locally.

UPDATE 6:50 p.m. 12-5-07

Finally added the photo from the memorial. Apparently Angela was an honor student at Woodbury University. We have another picture of her apparently from a family member that I will try to post tomorrow. 

The picture here is of Devon Williams, it was provided by his grandmother Jan.

I got a letter from Jan Williams, who noted that Los Altos Elementary School will be refurbishing their library with a dinosaur theme and dedicating it in the memory of Devon Williams, her grandson who was killed with his brother and father in August at their home in Rowland Heights.

Jan says the library has ordered new books, a plaque has been finished and a mural has been commissioned.

Devon and Ian's books will be donated to the library. 

 Anyone who wants to donate can make a check payable to the Los Altos PTA.  The address is:  Los Altos Elementary School, 15565 Los Altos Drive, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745.

Reporter Tania Chatila indicates that the killing on Overlook Ridge Road in Diamond Bar is connected in some way to a home invasion robbery in the 1000 block of Overlook Ridge In Diamond Bar. Tania responded to the scene before Sheriff's homicide detectives, so some details are still sketchy.

Here's Tania's dispatch from the scene:

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Brian Day and I were checking around to see if anybody had heard from Jennifer Dejongh, the mother of Rep. Gary Miller's three grandsons. Nothing news to report on that front, other than she (and the kids) are still missing.

I did run across this discussion of the case on the Web. Some interesting reading.

View Larger Map.

 I'll update the database sometime Tuesday. But here's the 2007 talley in Pico Rivera.

Monrovia PD chased down a auto burglary suspect Monday night with a containment and helicopter near the Foothill (210) Freeway.

The man was reported breaking into a car then running away from the scene near Shamrock and Central.

Thanks to Lt. Cisneros for letting us know what was going on Monday night.

Michael Stephen Baker, former pastor at St. Hilary's Parish pleaded guilty in Superior Court to 12 molestation counts Monday.

Baker admitted molesting several boys under his care at the parish and in other locations. He was moved several times by Cardinal Mahoney after admitting he had a relationship with two boys.

While he was rotated from parish ot parish within the LA diocese, he continued to molest.

He was sentenced to 10 years and four months in state prison.