January 2008 Archives

WEST COVINA — Police are warning the public about a suspected team of con artists who they say scammed two local women out of thousands of dollars Wednesday.
Both incidents targeted older Latino women, said West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez<NO1>cq<NO>.
The crimes occurred about 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m., he said.
In the first case, a 69-year-old woman was approached by a Spanish-speaking man while shopping inside Longs Drugs store, 727 S. Glendora Ave., said Lopez.
The man told her that his father was dying in Costa Rica, and that he needed to have a document notarized at the law offices of “Martinez and Martinez” in order to have money sent to him, Lopez said.
A second alleged crook, a woman, walked up and said she knew where it was and could drive him, said the alleged victim, who asked her name not be used for fear of retaliation.
The woman convinced the victim to enter her car by telling her she did not want to be alone with the man, she said.
Once inside the suspect’s van, the man and woman convinced the woman to use her credit card to withdraw $8,000 from the bank, promising her they would return her money as soon as they got the document notarized, Lopez said.
“At first I thought they were just friendly,” said the victim. “Once they got me in the car, they changed. I was scared,” she said.
While at the bank, the alleged woman suspect’s picture was caught by surveillance cameras, Lopez added.
Shortly after leaving the bank, the man began coughing and asked the victim to get him some water, said Lopez.
When the woman returned with the water, the man and woman had fled with her money, he said.
The victim described the man as being Latino, about 50 years old, 5-feet tall, about 120 pounds, with short hair, wearing a dark-colored suit, said Lopez.
The other suspect was described as a Spanish-speaking Latino woman, in her 30s, with long brown hair, sunglasses, a brown sweat shirt, brown pants, and a scarf around her ponytail.
They drove a white mini-van, police added.
About half an hour later, a similar con was reported in on the Azusa/Covina border, police said.
A 60-year-old Latino woman was walking in the area of Arrow Highway and Citrus Avenue when she was approached by a Spanish-speaking man who told her he had a winning Lotto ticket worth $1 million and needed to go to the law offices of “Martinez and Martinez,” said Lopez.
As before, a woman posing as a passer-by offered a ride and encouraged the victim to give the man “collateral” money so he could cash the ticket, which she promised would be promptly returned.
After the con artist took the woman to her West Covina home where she retrieved $1,600 and some jewelry, the man said he had a headache and asked the victim to get him some aspirin, Lopez said.
Once the victim went inside the store, the suspects fled, he added.
The second victim gave police a description of the pair that was similar to that of the first victim, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the West Covina Police Department at (626) 939-8557.
[TAG1]brian.day@sgvn.com
<MC>(626) 962-8811, Ext. 2718

"I don't want this to happen to any family. Politicians come on listen to us. This is an election year." Jeanette Chavez, mother of Sammantha Salas.

"The retailiation and violence is impractical and immoral. The violence must stop." Bishop William LaRue Dillard, 2nd Baptist Church Monrovia. "We are in a crisis in Monrovia."

"We should pray for grace and wisdom. We need to promote a culture of life not a culture of death." Father Charles Ramirez, Annunciation Parish, Monrovia.

"Law enforcement from the San Gabriel Valley has come together. Fifteen agencies are sending officers to assist us, but the problem will not be solved with law enforcement alone."
Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson. "These are sociopaths they have no fear of their families their chruch -- anybody."

 

 

Willie Lee Jr. of Monrovia Calif. and Jeanette Chavez, of Alhambra, Calif. embrace Thursday behind a memorial for Lee's son Brandon who was shot to death Tuesday night. Chavez's daughter Sammantha Salas was also the victim of gang violence. Salas, 16, was shot to death Jan. 26 outside an apartment building also in Monrvia, Calif. Police said Chavez and Salas are victims of a gang war between black and Latino Gangs in Los Angeles County.

 

I took these pictures this morning outside the home where Brandon Lee was shot to death. The first picture is of the memorial to Lee. The second picture shows the mother of Samantha Salas at the event.

So that woman from El Monte who suspiciously went missing from her home Tuesday has been found.

Joellyn Corsaro, 48 was initially reported missing by her husband Tuesday morning after he returned to their Lambert Road home to find it ransacked and his wife gone.
At that point, police said “things didn’t add up,” because Corsaro should have been home and one of the couple’s cars was missing.
Additionally, the license plates from the missing car had been left behind. And the plates from the couple’s second car were missing.

Was it a kidnapping? Were the plates swapped? Police were scratching their heads.
But about 12:05 p.m. Wednesday, Corsaro got into a car accident on the 10 freeway, and the responding CHP officer recognized her face from pictures in news reports.
She’s OK, and police are now saying nothing criminal happened.
El Monte police Detective Tim Siedentopp told reporter Bethania Palma last night that Corsaro told him she had stayed at a motel the night before, and seemed stressed out.

Hmmm? Is it just me or do their seem to be a lot of unanswered questions here. Why was the house “ransacked?” Why the license plate jumble? Was there something else going on?

Monrovia officials have scheduled a press conference to discuss the situation. Starts at 10 a.m. at City Hall.

I plan to cover the Press Conf via the blog. I will post updates in the comments section of this entry.

Corey Blount, a standout hoop star at Monrovia High School who played in the 1990s for the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, called Wednesday from his home in Cincinnati.
“I think about the city of Monrovia, the situation,” Blount said. “What’s going on is sad, man.
“I lived there, was born there — that’s home,” Blount continued. “But now, I wouldn’t want to raise my family in Monrovia. These gangs took the place of the KKK as far as eliminating the young Mexicans and the young black males. Now that they start taking the innocents, it’s a problem that’s going to continue to escalate.”
Blount’s call came less than 12 hours after the death of another local athlete: Brandon Lee, 19, a one-time standout football player at Duarte High School.
During the 2006 season, he led the Falcons in tackles as a middle linebacker and picked up 86 yards rushing. People who knew him said Brandon was quick, agile and sure.
Just not quick, agile or sure enough to outrun the bullet that killed him Tuesday night in the 500 block of Almond Avenue in Monrovia.
Lee’s killing was the latest shooting in a racially motivated gang war pitting Latino gangs Monrovia Nuevo Barrio and Duarte Eastside against a black gang known as Duroc Crips.
The attacks and counterattacks date back more than a few months and are likely being ordered by shot-callers at Pelican Bay, Folsom and San Quentin.
Detectives believe Lee, a black man, was killed in retaliation for the shooting death Saturday of Sammantha<NO1>cq<NO> Salas, a 16-year-old Latina.
Sammantha was killed in a hail of automatic gunfire as she walked to the neighborhood dairy in the dark. A 16-year-old friend walking with her was also shot and severely wounded.
The teenager’s death came as retaliation for the murder of 64-year-old Sanders Rollins, a black man killed on the steps of his home earlier in the month, police said.
Detectives now believe that Rollins was targeted in retaliation for the shooting death of Hector Acosta, 24, on Dec. 12 in Duarte.
Even in the midst of the escalation, some community leaders turn aside the suggestion there is a racial component to the violence. No one denies the tension in the air, or how it’s tearing Monrovia’s All-American image to shreds.
Elizabeth Roberts, who has lived in Monrovia since coming to California from Great Britain after World War II, said the current state of affairs reminds her of the war.
“It’s like London during the war years,” Roberts said. “It’s very, very disturbing.”
As for Monrovia’s All-American image, Roberts would say it’s tarnished — if not gone outright.
“We’re supposed to be one nation, under God.”
At almost the same time that Lee was shot to death Tuesday evening, police staged a raid on Rollins’ home in search of a gun connected to a Jan.<TH>15 shooting, officials said.
It was a show of force. A surge if you will.
Four blocks away, the police presence didn’t scare the two men who walked up to Lee and fired. Cops acknowledging the proximity of the two events called Lee’s killing “brazen.”
Wednesday morning came bright, cold and breezy to the narrow, oil-stained and well-worn Almond Street just north of Monrovia’s high-tech business corridor on Huntington Drive.
Bullets left pockmarks in the stucco wall of the home and pierced the tailgate of an SUV in the driveway. Yellow police tape tied to a leaky swamp cooler flapped in the breeze.
Squinting in the early morning sun, James Bush, 45, who lives a few doors down from where Lee was slain, surveyed the scene and thought of his two teenage sons.
“With all this going on, I don’t even let them out,” he said. “What’s going on here is ridiculous. Don’t shoot innocent people. Cowards shoot innocent people.”

There's a meeting at the Monrovia Community Center taking place right now. Apparently City Council is in attendance.

Our photographer was thrown out. The bouncer said no pictures. Apparently a reporter has been able to escape detection -- so far...

On the right is the scene where Brandon Lee was shot. On the left is a shot from outside the Peck Road Apartment where Sammantha Salas was shot to death Saturday.

Police now say Brandon Lee, who was shot to death Tuesday night in the 500 block of Almond Street died holding a piece of rock cocaine. Not sure if that meant he was selling it or buying it when he was shot.

Interesting tidbit anyway.

The photo at right is from Tuesday night as police raided the home of Sanders Rollins. lee was shot while all these coppers were in the neighborhood.

 

This comes from the Monrovia City Rumor Control Web page: Except it contains an error or two:

RUMOR CONTROL

 

A 16-year-old was wounded in a driveby shooting in County territory on Sunday, January 13. The shooting was in front of his home on Peck Road, not at a school.

A Canyon High School student was killed and another teen wounded in another shooting incident January 26, also on Peck Road.

A suspect has been arrested in the Jan. 13 shooting. Monrovia Police have also arrested two gang members as suspects in a shooting that took place on Cypress Avenue.

Investigations are continuing and arrests are being made as the recent flare-up of gang violence continues throughout the region.

Crime Scene responds.

When he was shot on Jan. 13, Day Day was bicycling just outside the grounds of Calvary Church and within a block or two of the Catholic School. CLARIFIED 13:25:52 1-30-08

Sammantha Salas, who was killed on Jan. 26,  attended Alhambra High School as was reported here yesterday and confirmed by district officials there. No arrest has been made in the shooting of Salas.

We’re seeing (and hearing about) lots of increased police presence at the high schools and middle schools in Monrovia this morning.
Police units are patrolling the areas as a precautionary measure and in response to increased gang violence over the last several days, according to officials.
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department patrol car was also parked in front of neighboring Duarte High School just after 8 a.m. today.

No new information yet on the most recent gang-related slaying.
It happened Tuesday night when a 19-year-old black man was shot while standing on the sidewalk in the 500 block of Almond Avenue just before 8 p.m.
The shooters have been described as Latino males.

I swung by the crime scene before 7 a.m. today, but all remnants of what had happened were gone. No vigils and nothing left behind by police.
It was a little early to be knocking on neighbors’ doors, but one man I spotted standing outside said his sister heard the shots Tuesday night.

Word is this is likely retaliation for 16-year-old Samantha Salas’ shooting death on Saturday night.
We’re still trying to get more information on the 19-year-old. He died after being transported to Huntington Memorial Hospital.
A call to the coroner’s office early this morning found that his body had not yet been picked up from the hospital.
They expected to retrieve him morning by late morning.

A couple of crime-related incidents being investigated right now in the SGV:

First, El Monte police are looking for a woman who went missing Tuesday morning under “suspicious circumstances.”
Apparently, the woman’s husband found their home ransacked and his wife gone about 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday.
Read more here.

And in Rowland Heights, LA County Sheriff’s detectives are investigating a man who was found dead in the 18100 block of Los Palacios Drive home about 5:30 a.m.
Authorities are still out at the scene and the body has not been picked up by the coroner’s office so  we don’t have much more information right now.
The man is only described as an adult Hispanic.

 

City News is reporting a new shooting in Monrovia in the 500 block of Almond Avenue occurred at 7:51 p.m. according to Sheriff's deputies. The victim, a man, died in a local hospital. Sheriff's homicide and Monrovia PD are investigating..

Wow

This occurred while the investigation at Mr. Rollins' house was taking place reporter and photog are en route although there may not be much left at the scene.

 

8:33 p.m.

1234 Sherman in Monrovia. Police are inside the house where Mr. Rollins was shot. They have brought along a gun-sniffing dog as part of their investigation. One police spokesman told reporter Brian Day they the investigation is connected to a Jan 14th shooting, in which no one was hurt.

As our photog was taking pictures of the scene, police closed the blinds on the front windows so that no pictures could be taken of the investigation taking place inside.

 

8 p.m. update

Police have surrounded a neighborhood near Huntington and California as part of their effort to stop the violence in Monrovia. A helicopter has been circling the area. We have a reporter and photographer on scene. The neioghborhood is near where Mr. Rollins was shot.

2:51 p.m. Conversation with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca from Hector Gonzales.

He's concerned about this spreading into the innocent population a task force in place.

"This is going way over the line now" Baca said while using words like "savage" to describe the current state of affairs.

Baca also said Day Day was intentionally targeted because he was NOT a gang banger

 

 

UPDATE 2 P.M.

The City Manager has issued a report on gang violence:

Here's an Excerpt: And a link

Over the last several days, I have received a handful of emails and comments from folks who believe that the current rash of gang violence is really a “race war.” In one email, a person sent me a number of news clippings detailing hostilities between Latino and African-American gangs as evidence that this is all about race, as opposed to criminals committing criminal acts. Although the topic of race is always very sensitive, I believe that we must be able to speak rationally, intelligently and carefully about such complex issues; to quote Confucius, “The beginning of Wisdom is to call things by their right names.”
I responded to the email stating that the mere fact that each of the articles that were cited focused on gang violence, trends in gang violence, demographic shifts that can contribute to gang violence, etc., that the sender had actually proved my point – that the issue here is not race; it’s gang violence. The racial/ethnic identity of the gang members gives the story racial overtones, to be sure. And tension is certainly not uncommon when one group supplants another in a given area or neighborhood – this has been witnessed time and again over hundreds of years throughout the history of cities and towns.
But this tension, in 2008 and here in Monrovia, does not extend so far as to cause a spontaneous combustion of hatred and bigotry.

UPDATE: 1:38 P.M.

Caroline An reports that Alhambra High School officials were reluctant to acknowledge Samantha Salas was a student there. What was interesting about the conversation and illuminating about the bureaucracy that runs our schools, the official was willing to discuss the fact that grief conselors were on campus today. He just wouldn't say why they were there and wouldn't discuss Salas.

 

UPDATE: 12:53 P.M.

MAP of Monrovia shooting locations posted below.

Additionally we have a page devoted to coverage of the crime wave at http://www.sgvtribune.com/monroviashootings

UPDATE 11:40 A.M.  This from PSN City Editor Hecttor Gonzalez:

looks like cops are out there in force hunting for evidence, including digging that stray bullet out of the wall of that one apartment (geez!), re-interviewing possible witnesses, ect. -- but how knows why they had to shut down the entire area around the building to do this. could be a show of force

UPDATE ENDS HERE

 

Some interesting notes that we will be developing throughout the day:

1. There some belief that Jose Garcia, the convicted killer of Deputy David March apparently lived in the apartment complex where Sammantha Salas was shot. It makes sense as it is only a short drive between there and the spot on Live Oak where March was murdered.

2. Who owns the apartment complex? What is their relationship with local authorities?

3. According to Rob Hammond, meetings between Monrovia officials, Duarte officials, police and sheriff's department and the school districts took place yesterday. What happened?

4. The condition of Sammantha Salas friend who was also shot Saturday night.

5. Your continued thoughts on the state of affairs and the ongoing racially motivated gang war in Monrovia.

By the Way I plan to keep this at the top of the page today so that commenting here will be easy for new readers

 

 

 

A letter writer informs us that a man was shot in the face at his home in West Covina on Bromley Street. The shooting occurred Jan. 23, the man died yesterday. The shooter is apparently in custody.

West Covina Police Department spokespeople forgot to mention this to us. But we found out anyway.

A lieutenant said he didn't know the details but would have someone get back to me.

update 8:20 p.m. 1/29/08

A police spokesman talked to reporter Brian Day and we'll have complete details on the web and in tomorrow's paper.

 

View Larger Map

ROWLAND HEIGHTS - Detectives are investigating the death of a 9-year-old girl at a local hospital today.
The girl — whose name was not released — was apparently brought to the unidentified hospital from the 18400 block of Vidora Drive early this morning, then died shortly after.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau are investigating. Check back for an update.

The lack of street lights along this stretch of Peck Road stands out.
The graffiti on the sidewalk is fresher than the coat of paint on the apartment building in the 2500 block where Sammantha Salas, 16, was shot to death Saturday night.
Inside the 47-unit building, Salas’ father recalled the short life of his daughter, a straight-A student and Dodgers fan, who loved to draw and spend time with her family.
Tears in his eyes, Samuel Salas recalled the endless wait for paramedics and police as he fell to the sidewalk and held Sammantha as she drew her last breath.
“My daughter didn’t deserve this,” he told reporter Molly R. Okeon.
An unidentified friend of Salas’ who was also shot remained in a coma Monday at an undisclosed hospital.
Both Salas and her friend were the latest victims in a gang war that’s taking on racial overtones, police say.
Salas, a Latina, was targeted by two black men or teens. At least one detective told Okeon that the killing was payback for the killing of Sanders “Pete” Rollins, 64, a black man who was killed yards from the front door of his home on Sherman Avenue. The suspects in that case were described as Latinos.
While Monrovia and nearby Duarte are experiencing the latest manifestation of a racially motivated gang war, it’s been going on in California for some time.
Doo Kim, who has worked at a dairy just down the street for 23 years, said he’s heard gunfire in the neighborhood before. But never like the “machine guns” that cut through the still night air Saturday.
“Blam, blam, blam, blam,” Kim said. “I had a customer who was so scared he got out of his car and we ducked down behind the counter until the police came.”
In his book “The Mexican Mafia,” author Tony Rafael said that much of the recent violence is an extension of what’s occurring in California’s prison system. And he claims it has been under-reported.
Civilian casualties like Salas or Rollins are nothing more than collateral damage to the shot-callers in Pelican Bay and San Quentin, according to Rafael.
While police have agreed with that assessment, Monrovia Mayor Rob Hammond wasn’t ready to blame racial violence for the killings.
“That may be an oversimplification,” he said.
He did agree that diligent police work in Monrovia and the county area just south of the city will be needed to stop the violence.
“There is not a good neighborhood for this to happen,” Hammond said Monday. “It affects us all.”
In the run-up to Feb. 5, presidential candidates from both parties will be touring the Golden State in search of delegates who will support them at their respective conventions.
Some will likely stand under statuesque palm trees near beaches and talk about the effects of global warming. Others will probably visit celebrity villas in Bel Air or Malibu to collect campaign cash and discuss the need for health care reform.
Some might stand in the shadows of snow-capped mountains of California’s inland and talk about the mortgage crisis.
Very few — if any — will come to this pock-marked stretch of no man’s land, where telephone poles outnumber the palm trees and innocent teenagers get gunned down on a rainy night.
Welcome to the real California.
There are no endless summers here, just a girl named Sammantha who will be 16 forever.

 

Crime Scene has had several requests for information on this incident. Here's what we are reporting in tomorrow's paper. I'm sorry I don't know much more than these few details.

ARCADIA — A 32-year-old woman was in critical condition Monday after her estranged husband allegedly shot her multiple times Sunday night, officials said.
Peter Chang, 58, reportedly came to the woman’s home on Bonita Street, where they began fighting. Chang reportedly shot the woman several times and fled at around 10:20 p.m., according to Sgt. Tom Cullen of the Arcadia Police Department.
Chang was later arrested by Long Beach police and transferred to Arcadia, where he was being held without bail, Cullen said.
The Arcadia woman was on life support at Huntington Memorial Hospital.
Detectives were investigating what caused the altercation.

View Larger Map

This is the makeshift memorial outside the apartment building where Sammantha Salas, 16, was shot to death Saturday night. The building itself is pockmarked with bullet holes. The owner of a nearby drive-thru dairy told me that Salas was killed in a hail of "machine gun " fire, which he head.

Here's what we're hearing about the latest violence in Monrovia:

Sheriff's homicide detectives who are handling the case say the two teenage victims in Saturday's Peck Road shooting were Hispanic. The suspects are believed to be African-American.

Not that we didn't already have a hunch, but officials confirm they think this is more MNV vs. Duroc violence. And now, detectives say they are on edge because retaliation is likely.

Reporters at the Star-News are handling this one. Look for more in tomorrow's paper.

This from reporter Brian Day on the Trib cop desk: The sheriff's Department isn't saying much about the case. The victim hasn't been identified according to the coroner's office. And LASO hasn't even posted an update on their website.

 

If you spend anytime on the road switching radio channels in LA, you've probably listened to KFI, which brodcasts from a tower in La Mirada. I've listened to the station since at least 1988, and remember the days of Tom Leykis, Joe Crummey,  Phil Hendrie and the attempted Political Human Sacrifice of U.S. Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas..

When Hendrie was replaced with John Ziegler I wasn't going to listen, but I did -- and liked what I heard.

Well if you don't know it by now, let me break the news -- Ziegler is gone. Apparently a pretty nasty divorce.

Zig has put up a page that tells his side of the story.

Here's the intro:

This website is dedicated to telling the totally true story of John Ziegler's experience at KFI in Los Angeles. John realizes that the creation of this website probably ends any chance that he will ever again hit the highest levels of talk radio and may very well end his talk radio career totally. But he is at peace with that potential consequence because he feels there are certain truths that are worth the risk to tell, especially when you are really the only person in the world in a position to do so.

This website is devoted to one of those truths. Specifically, that the talk radio industry (and particularly KFI) is dominated by freaks, fakes, frauds and phonies who tend to make crack whores seem respectable and reputable by comparison ....

There's plenty more packed into a dense four-page read....

Issac Campbell, accused of killing his girlfriend, stuffing her body in a trashcan and dumping the can in a friend's backyard appeared in court in Alhambra Friday ostensibly to enter a plea in the case.

There was no plea. Instead there was some in chambers discussions about the case, before Campbell was removed from court and returned to jail.

Campbell is accused fo killing Liya Jessie Lu, a nursing student who he met at PCC. Lu's family and friends have been following the case closely in both the local Chinese media and through the PCC student newspaper.

The photo is by Star-News staffer Walt Mancini. If you steal it, credit him.

 

According to CBS News. They are also giving out Viagra, and "Pain Medications" according to a spokesman in this video.

None of these stories made it in print...but they're on the blog and here's the photos, courtesy the FBI's LA Field Office and Web site.

Click on the photos to see them up close and personal.

This time its in the North Primrose neighborhood. A total of 47 signs were stolen in the rain.

LAS VEGAS <NO1>(AP)<NO>— A fire has broken out on the roof of the Monte Carlo
hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.<NO1><QL>
AP-WS-01-25-08 1419EST  <NO>

EAST VALINDA — Two men were apparently kidnapped from a house in the 17400 block of Bulay Avenue after a home invasion robbery late Thursday, officials said.

The kidnapping occurred just before 4 p.m. authorities said. Both men were later free. Both were assaulted.

Police are unclear about the extent of injuries. Victims put in two different cars. The vcictim who returned came back in a car that had been reported stolen. He is uncooperative with police.

Officers are seeking a car with Oregon plates.

Police were seeking four male suspects described as “gang types” and three vehicles, one apparently belongs to the reported victims. 

"The Victim is being very evasive at this point," Lt. Al Garcia, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police crusiers and fire engines raced to the neighborood near Temple and Azusa avenues late Thursday.
http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime

 This entry on Rip Post is so accurate it's scary. I worked there in the late 80s right up until the last day. (that's me in the back row holding a cigarette)

Let us now turn to the departed L.A. Herald-Examiner, in late ‘70’s and early 80’s, where the only stability was instability. This was newsroom as chaos theory. When I was first offered a job there, I looked around the place and turned it down. Picture: rows of ancient metal desks with reporters shouting into phones, shouting at editors, banging on old Royal and Olympia mechanical typewriters, waiting in line to use the dozen-or-so computers available (waiting in line to make deadlines!), smoking (cigarettes, cigars, pipes), cursing, running to move cars so they didn’t get parking tickets. Bus diesel blew in through opened windows, past Venetian blinds not changed since the ‘40’s or ‘50’s. I later came to my senses and took the job.
          The Her-Ex at that time was a Mardis Gras of union disputes, threatened strikes, city editor reshuffling, section redesign, occasional physical confrontation, and extremely hard work. Duly legendary editor-in-chief Jim Bellows stocked the place with free-spirits, top-to-bottom. As I’m fond of saying, even the assholes were talented. There were no weak personalities there. They would not have lasted long. Top reporters’ salary: about five bills a week. Most made four or less. Imported big-gun (highly paid) columnists worked right in the newsroom with the mostly kid reporters.
          I recall an editorial clash being resolved, more or less, by a reporter shot-putting a typewriter into a wall. Then there were the occasional sleepover parties, when cots were rolled in during periods when strikes were feared, so management could live on the premises if necessary. One city editor regularly returned from lunch very hyped up and sniffling a lot. A columnist came to work a few times in drag (he was writing a lot about transvestites at the time.)
          One horrid day in 1980, we all arrived to find that our friend and colleague, Sarai Ribicoff, had been murdered in a robbery. A couple of months later, the newsroom drafted me to write a letter to Rolling Stone criticizing an article about the murder for RS freelanced by a Her-Ex columnist. Being idealistic and stupid (often the same thing), I wrote the letter, and was later attacked in the newsroom by the columnist, who first tried to choke me to death over a dictionary (poetic!), then pummeled me in the face, head, and neck until a copyboy and city editor Larry Burrough pulled him off. 30! (Yes, I threw one punch in retaliation, but, sad to say, it did no harm.) When the supervising editor refused to come to my aid, I called the cops. They came to the newsroom, did their interviews, and were given milk and cookies.
          Then I went back to work.
          There was a rumor that a reporter fired a pistol in the office, but that was before my time. (The late City Hall reporter Mike Qualls was said to have one strapped to his calf.) There were very few neckties at the Her-Ex, and decidedly not-couture apparel among the ladies (fashion editors excepted.) Half the staff was in and out of Corky’s Bar across the street all day and night, some of them puking in the gutter before going back to meet a deadline. Irreverence, irony, sarcasm, and Pepto-Bismol were exalted.
          Small wonder that the paper poked fun at The Times, calling it “The Whale” in its “Page Two” column. Small wonder, also, that the Her-Ex beat the Times in several L.A. Press Club competitions in those years, in total number of awards.
          Point being: that place felt like a newspaper. A roiling, percolating den of ideas and disputes, with news-beats kind of spilling over into each other. We did a great job in spite of---or because of---“instability.” Once again, John Carroll:
          The more worried everyone got, the better the work seemed to get.

 Azusa Police said they arrested the following persons and confiscated the following materials in their series of early morning raids. (I copied this from an email, excuse the font)

 

1. Rafael Miranda Garcia, 33, Azusa resident – Possession of narcotic paraphernalia $250.00 bail

2. Gregory Lynn Sergeant, 50, Azusa resident – Parole violation No Bail

3. Trinidad Martinez Velasquez, 38, Azusa resident – Possession of narcotic paraphernalia $250.00 bail

4. Rosabel Rios, 30, Azusa resident – Warrant $634.00 bail

5. Dennis Robert Ayon, 56, Azusa resident – Possession of large capacity gun magazine, illegal possession of ammunition, parole violation No Bail

6. Delbert Delgado, 24, Pomona resident – Possession of narcotic paraphernalia, Parole violation No Bail

7. Joseph Anthony Alvarez, 34, Azusa resident – Parole violation No Bail

8. David Anthony Padilla Sr., 43, Azusa resident – Possession of narcotics for sale, Parole violation No Bail

9. David Anthony Padilla Jr., 21, Azusa resident – Illegal possession of ammunition, possession of dangerous drugs, probation violation No Bail

10. Derek Williams, 44, Azusa resident – Warrant

11. Frank Martinez, 47, Azusa resident – Parole violation No Bail

12. Marissa Ariaga Godina, 26, Azusa resident – Possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale $20,000.00 Bail

13. Adam Manual Alvarez, 24, Azusa resident – Possession of methamphetamine for sale, Parole violation No Bail

14. Roberto Barrios, 23, Azusa resident – Possession of narcotic paraphernalia, Parole violation No bail

15. Timothy Foutch, 33, Azusa resident – Possession of marijuana, possession of hypodermic needles, parole violation No Bail

16. Michael Gabriel Garcia, 23, Azusa resident – Possession of marijuana, Parole violation No Bail

Department of Children and Family Services

16 Families investigated, 11 children taken into protective custody, 18 cases were opened for investigation with conditions

Guns Seized

2 Handguns, 1 rifle

Drugs Seized

41 grams methamphetamine, 23 grams tar heroin, 1 gram cocaine, 3 ounces marijuana

Other Weaponry

Swords, knives, stabbing instruments, boxes of rifle/shotgun/handgun ammunition

Drug paraphernalia

Pipes, syringes, hype kits

Cash

$3,000.00 + in cash proceeds from narcotic sales

Stolen Property

Jewelry, stereos

This from reporter Dan Abendschein:

Parolee raids: the family's view

Picture this: you hear a heavy knocking at 6 a.m. at your door. You wake up and open the door and 10 police officers are standing there, with a team from the humane society to distract your dogs from biting at them, and a child services team in case your entire household gets arrested and they need to take your children into custody.

Meanwhile, the police come in and search your house, and quite likely end up dragging your husband/brother/father off to jail after finding something incriminating in their room. Meanwhile, neighbors begin streaming out their doors to find a dozen police cars blocking double-parked up and down the block.

There are so many police standing around that they have nothing better to do than tell you what a mistake it was that you allowed the husband/brother/father back into your house after his time in prison, and how they are looking forward to putting him back there.

Not a very fun morning.