Reports of shots fired and several persons (including a 9-year-old) are down. A suspect is in custody and Baldwin Park and Irwindale units are on scene. The BPPD has requested assistance from the Sheriff’s Department.
The shootings were reported in the 14500 block of Rockinbach near Maine Street.
There are so many icons that define Los Angeles.
The freeways, the palm trees, the snow-capped mountains, the beach, the Hollywood sign, AM radio.
AM radio?
Think about it. Radio makes a steady and comfortable companion for all those hours spent driving on the freeway looking at palm trees on the way to snow-capped mountains, the beach or Hollywood.
I got my first real inside look at L.A. radio this past week when KFWB set up a studio of sorts in our Pasadena newsroom. Their plan is to give drive-time exposure to stories appearing in the daily paper. Its a kind of quid pro quo; they get a near exclusive and we get to hear our voices on the radio.
Ive been a fan of AM radio for more years than I care to count. In the 70s, my dad bought me a crystal radio Heathkit. I have no idea how it worked, but it received just one station, KGO 810-AM in San Francisco.
I would lie in bed at night listening to what probably was the earliest talk radio in the country. There were some interesting hosts: Al Jazzbo Collins, Ira Blue, Ronn Owens.
But it wasnt until I moved to Los Angeles in 1984 that I grew a deep and everlasting appreciation for the AM medium. KABC was the big station at the time, and Michael Jackson (not the singer) was their star. He did something like two hours of local talk followed by a syndicated hour.
Jackson could be infuriating, but at the same time his show made me feel like I was part of something larger as a resident of metropolitan Los Angeles. It was kind of like he was saying, Welcome to Los Angeles.
There were other unusual radio shows then, too. Jim Healy comes to mind. His half-hour local sports shows on KMPC and KLAC were punctuated with recordings of sports celebrities that were profane and hilarious.
Is it true? was Healys great catchphrase. I remember Healy following the question one time with a description of Milton Berle waiting in line at Santa Anita to place a bet. The star was taking advice from a guy with a hole in his shoe. I still smile at the picture in my head.
Healys half-hour was the ultimate insiders sports program. It punctuated the whole Welcome to Los Angeles theme of local radio back then.
Local radio changed in the 90s. Rush Limbaugh supplanted Michael Jackson in the mornings. Healy died.
KFI became prominent and John and Ken are the voice of local talk. They made a name covering O.J. Simpson and unsuccessfully trying to get Congressman David Dreier tossed out by the voters.
Beyond that, if their show said anything its Welcome to Los Angeles. Now go home.
Times change.
Through it all, KFWB has stayed true to its mission You give us 22 minutes, well give you the world.
And (for now anyway) the San Gabriel Valley.
This comes from crack crime reporter Brian Day in the SGV newsroom:
Cuauhtemoc Ortiz, 58, of Temple City, plead not guilty Monday to the slaying of an El Monte man in his home early this year, officials said.
Lester Lear, 47, was shot multiple times with a shotgun inside his house, said Detective Richard Ramirez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.
Investigators believe the motive in the shooting was that Ortiz viewed Lear as a rival for the affections of a woman, described as a local woman in her 40s.
Ortiz allegedly also tried to shoot Lear but missed on Jan. 1, officials said, at the same house where Lear was ultimately killed.
Lear is also being investigated by the El Monte Police Department in several other violent incidents that occurred prior to Lear’s slaying, said Ramirez. Details on those incidents were not available.
A letter sent to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune newsroom claiming to be from Ortiz expressed concern that an “informant” in his case is not being adequately protected by the police and is in danger of “eminent murder.”
“I’ve never heard of anything of this nature,” Ramirez said after being told of the letter.
Ortiz was arrested Jan. 16 several blocks from his Temple City home as he was walking to his car, Ramirez said.
Lear was fatally shot Jan. 4 at his house in the 10000 block of Rose Avenue, said Deputy Rick Pedroza of the Sheriff’s Headquarter’s Bureau. He was pronounced dead at the scene, he added.
Two very different sides of the story about an incident that happened Saturday evening at a church in Walnut, where the East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless was hosting a shelter.
Officials with the advocacy group claim two of their staff members were attacked by a man who came in demanding services, but refusing to give his name.
Colleen Castellano, director of the East San Gabriel Valley Coalition for the Homeless, said the man attacked the staff members with an unknown substance that caused them burns and “mutilation.”
Two deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department responded to the incident. Their log tells a very different story.
They claim the man was intoxicated, was arguing with staff members, and was combative, according to Sgt. Randy Lascurain. But deputies Jimmy Osorio and Jesus Hernandez said the guy eventually became cooperative and left the shelter on his own. No police report was filed because staff members at the shelter did not want to make an arrest, Lascurain said.
Castellano said her staff members DID want the man arrested, but the deputies didn’t want to help.
“When they arrived, the officer told us we asked for it because we bring these people in, we’re enablers,” she said. “They escorted the man off the premises and that’s it. They didn’t do anything.”
Guess we’ll never know what really happened. The coalition said they won’t be filing any sort of complaint because that’s not part of “what they do.”
So this 18-year-old Rio Hondo student goes missing. We write about it … twice. Her parents are frantic.
Well, there’s a happy ending of sorts. The full story, by reporter Tracy Garcia, will appear in tomorrow’s paper. But, here’s a small advance taste of a real Valentine’s tale:
It was major drama earlier this month for 18-year-old Rio Hondo College student Crystal Domingues her family reported her missing, then apparently hired a private detective who tracked her down.
The detective found her… at the Irvine home of Rio Hondo professor Muata Kamdibe. Domingues was a former student of his, Kamdibe says, and Domingues and Kamdibe say they are in love. To prove it, theyre getting hitched this weekend in Vegas.
Good luck with the in-laws.
A man suspected of cultivating Marijuana was targeted by a couple of 211 specialists, police told reporter Dan Abendschein. Here’s an excerpt:
PASADENA – An armed robbery took place Thursday night at the apartment of a man authorities described as a pot dealer and grower.
Police confiscated about 200 plants of marijuana and several guns from the apartment of the victim, who was confronted around 6:10 p.m. by three armed suspects who entered his home, according to Lt. Alex Uribe of the Pasadena Police Department.
The victim was held captive while two of the men searched the apartment for cash, said Uribe.
He added that the detectives suspected the suspects knew the apartment was a place they would find cash.
“We don’t know for sure yet, but I’d venture to guess they knew that there was dealing going on there,” said Uribe.
The apartment is located at 365 Hastings Ranch Road, said Uribe.
While the suspects were in the home, a second victim knocked on the door, said suspects. While the suspects were taking him inside, the first victim broke through a window and fled, injuring himself in the process, Uribe said.
He went to a neighboring apartment and called the police, Uribe added.
The victim has not yet been arrested for marijuana cultivation or sales, said Uribe, but he said he expected the arrest to come soon.
Pasadena’s interim police Chief Chris Vicino takes exception to Tuesday’s column in a
This letter is in response to the recent editorial “Gang Injunctions Can Work Wonders,” published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Pasadena Star-News.
Your reference to Pasadena’s interim City Manager Bernard K. Melekian was unjustified, as it failed to provide the reader with historical data that shows a spectacular crime reduction under Melekian’s leadership. By doing this, you minimized the good work of the men and women of the Pasadena Police Department and courageous citizens of the Pasadena community who have always collaborated with its police department to fight criminal activity.
Spotted this on Newsmax:
Attorney Jon Eardley, who purports to represent Britney Spears, has filed documents in an L.A. U.S. District Court to move Britneys conservatorship case from the Los Angeles County Superior Court to federal court. Eardley maintains offices in Washington, D.C., Jericho, New York, and Whittier, Calif.
Eardley claims in court papers that, without due process, Spears is being confined by the conservator to the private prison of her own home, and he contends that this is a violation of her civil rights.
After Britney twice spent time in a psychiatric ward, Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz placed her in a temporary conservatorship under her father Jamie and his attorney, Andrew Wallet. The order will continue until a scheduled hearing on March 10.
I see the case as a civil rights case, Eardley told People magazine. These are issues of confinement. Very serious confinement. Not allowed to contact her friends. Not allowed to use the phone. Not allowed to come and go as you please. Bodyguards controlling you and so forth.
As many as 60 residents of an unincorporated neighborhood bordering Duarte and Monrovia took to the streets.
They marched down thoroughfares known for gang-controlled crack houses.
They promised to take back their neighborhood. They promised to help deputies from the sheriffs Temple Station catch criminals.
Folks lined the street and applauded the message. Some cheered the marchers from behind barred windows. A few even joined in.
Sound familiar?
According to an article published Oct. 2, 1994, the march was organized by residents of unincorporated Los Angeles County who were sick and tired of gang violence.
Somebody must have been smoking deja vu this past week. On Monday, a very similar march took place along Huntington Drive. Melissa Pamer reported that as many as 400 took part in the event sponsored by a group calling themselves Enough is Enough.
Weve decided to take our streets back, declared David Jones, a minister who helped organize Mondays event.
Interestingly enough, the headline of the 1994 article expressed a very similar sentiment: Theyre taking back the streets from gangs.
In todays paper, Pamer reports that since Jan. 30, Monrovia police and sheriffs deputies have made 112 arrests. Of those, 34 were felony busts. Less than half of the 34 are thought to be gang members.
People who live in the area tell Pamer they like the increased police presence.
Residents say they think the crackdown is making a difference, Pamer told me Wednesday.
And to some degree it is.
On Friday Jimmy Santana, a 19-year-old Latino resident of Duarte, will be in court for a preliminary hearing on charges he shot a 16-year-old black teen.
The teen, shot on Jan. 12, remains in the hospital, officials said. The shooting was part of a string of racially motivated gang attacks that left four people dead and several others injured in Monrovia, Duarte and surrounding unincorporated communities.
Following Tuesdays column, which suggested area officials might consider a gang injunction in Monrovia, the Crime Scene Blog became the center of a debate on the merits of the suggestion.
I wrote that few would complain about an injunction.
To which a blog commenter, I think its unfair to suggest there wont be too many law-abiding taxpayers who will complain.
Especially considering the fact the constitutionality of such measures has reached as high as the U.S. Supreme Court. That is to say, people have complained and those complaints have been taken seriously.”
On the other hand, a commenter named FX wrote, So far the extra police have been welcome by the great majority of residents. I see many people giving the patrols a thumbs-up as they drive by. I hear NO complaints about the extra police. Even some drunks I know dont complain, the drunks now take a taxi instead of drinking and driving … most residents at the moment, want to return to the quiet and boring Monrovia of before.
My only reply is, which before? 1994 or something more recent?
Surfing my alma mater’s Web site today, I stumbled upon this bit of news about two brothers – one from Pasadena, the other from Glendale – accused of trying to bribe a San Bernardino County Supervisor in a development project.