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The shots heard ’round the city

There’s more trouble in Monrovia, reporter Brian Day reports. There was a officer-involved shooting involving a burglary suspect and Monrovia police early Sunday near Duarte and Mayflower..


Is it just me, or did everyone else in the city here the shots overnight? I specifically remember hearing several – probably at least 6 – rounds go off about 12:15 Sunday. I perked up my ears and then patiently waited for the sounds of sirens. It wasn’t too long until I heard them. A chopper followed…

Here’s more from Brian’s report:

MONROVIA – A police officer and a burglary suspect were both wounded in a shoot-out early Sunday, authorities said.

The Monrovia police officer, whose name was not released, remains hospitalized with two minor gunshot wounds to his upper torso and is listed in good condition, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Oscar Butao.

The suspect, an unidentified black man in his 50s, was also shot multiple times in the upper torso and is listed in stable condition at the hospital, Butao said.

The shooting occurred shortly after midnight near the intersection of Duarte Road and Mayflower Avenue after a suspect ran from police, said Monrovia police Sgt. Glen Coleman.

A police officer stopped a possible burglary suspect and he ran, Butao said.

Police and California Highway Patrol officers set up a search perimeter and spotted the suspect a short time later, he said.

When officers tried to arrest the man, he pulled a small-caliber handgun and opened fire on officers, striking the Monrovia officer, said Butao.

A Monrovia officer and a CHP officer returned fire, striking the suspect numerous times, Butao said.

The suspect’s gun was recovered at the scene, he added.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are investigating the shooting, as is customary in all officer-involved shootings in Los Angeles County.

No further details were available.

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Burg ring busted up with woman’s arrest

This comes from reporter Wes Woods:

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SAN GABRIEL – Authorities believe a Chino woman arrested Wednesday in connection with several burglaries is part of a larger burglary ring wanted for numerous crimes in Southern California.

Xana Diolinda Marks, 23, was arrested about 2 p.m. as she hid in a San Gabriel home, according to a San Bernardino County sheriff’s news release.

“Because we believe this group is involved in a burglary ring, someone may witnessed or spotted this,” said Dupper, asking for the public’s help.

He said he could not provide more information except to say there were drugs involved and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was investigating the group.

Marks is a suspected methamphetamine user, Dupper said.

“They’re mostly transient burglaries,” he said.

He said his department had been pursuing Marks for more than three weeks because of her and her group’s involvement in burglaries in Rancho Cucamonga, Upland, Arcadia and Covina.

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Suspected WWF Shotgun Bandits pinned

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A trio of men suspected of being the WWF bandits have been captured by police in Orange County following a bank robbery, officials said.

Here’s a snippet from Brian Day’s story on the arrests:

The suspects are Gary Edward Caruthers, 50, of Los Angeles, Jay Chandler Flott, 51, of Los Angeles, and Andre Williamson, 50, of Inglewood, police said.

All of the alleged crimes were takeover-style robberies in which the masked suspects brandished shotguns, officials said.

When the crime spree began at banks in Rowland Heights and Industry, we took to calling these guys the Lucha Libre Bandits. The FBI, not realizing the WWF is now the WWE stuck with their moniker.

The arrests come just in time for this weekend’s Wrestlemania festivities.where apparently there will be a “Money in the Bank Ladder Match”  No masked wrestlers have entered the event this year though there’s still time.

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911 victim recalled in photos (*UPDATED)

These photos were given to reporter Bethania Palma by Hsiao Hsu’s aunt.

Hsu was shot to death inside her Cameron Avenue home by intruders, officials said. No arrests have been made in the case but detectives say they are pursuing several leads. The photos are of Hsu and her husband Robert Chien. They were taken at the couple’s wedding in 1991.

* UPDATE :

First of all as Bethania points out in the comments below, the photos were not given to her, she snapped pictures of them at the aunt’s home.

The aunt initially gave us permission to use them but has since asked that they be removed from the blog and NOT be used in the newspaper.

In honor of the request, I have removed the pictures for now. I am withholding judgement as to further use and will decide whether to use the shots based on their news merit.

That said, I believe there is a significant amount of public interest in this case considering the likelihood there are cold-blooded killers somewhere out there. Killers who took a woman’s live in broad daylight for no other reason apparently than she was on the phone with 911.

If you have a problem with my decision, feel free to comment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A TRACE of Ondrea

The state’s ABC TRACE team is investigating the traffic collision that killed 20-year-old Ondrea Alvarez of Bellflower in Rowland Heights on Pathfinder Road March 2.

The team does back track investigations whenever there is a major incident involving an underage drinker.

“They are going to find where the kid who was driving got the booze,” says reporter Brian Day who is following this story.

There’s been several blog comments on the case. There is also an Internet guest book for grieving friends of Ondrea to recall her life.

 

 

 

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PBR and Tuna Melts

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Attended a post work function the other night at Crown City Brewery in Pasadena and met David Allen, my counterpart at the Daily Bulletin.

He’s into Tuna Melts and was having soft drinks. I stuck with PBR on tap. The rest of our crowd was doing the hef and lemon thing.

I told him how I knew several people who live and die with everything he writes. (it’s true) I also mentioned how I liked his ongoing looks at things that don’t exist anymore in Pomona and the Inland Empire.

Anyway in the aftermath of the summit meeting, a recent entry on David’s blog caught my attention, had to with a place in West Covina where several legendary bands (like The Doors) played shows.

Sounds cool. BTW here’s what doorshistory.com says about the gig:

Carousel Theater – West Covina, CA On the first night, Jim is full of energy, as he usually is after a lengthy break, repeatedly crashing down onto the stage and jumping back up to shout out the songs throughout the evening.  On the next night, Jim is just the opposite and the performance suffers due to his ever increasing intakes.  Also performing: The Sunshine Company (both nights)

Crime Scene has its own list of things that no longer exist in the SGV, I’m adding Stan’s in El Monte and The Carousel Theater. (I think others have mentioned them but what the heck; I didn’t know the whole Doors connection.)

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Thursday’s column

Due to some technical issues, Thursday’s column was much shorter in print and online than I had originally written it. (In other words I wrote long and space was short). You probably notice in reading it that it’s pretty much a follow up to Sam Quinones excellent piece in yesterday’s LAT.

I’ve heard that Quinones attended every day of trial and was able to score some interviews that I couldn’t get. Most notably no one from the Azusa PD returned calls Wednesday to discuss Ralph Flores, Azusa 13 or the impact and aftermath of the spree of hate crimes that plagued Azusa between 1998 and 2004.

Complete column after the jump…

Continue reading “Thursday’s column” »

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Closure of corruption unit questioned

Sen. DiFi wants to know why the US Attorney’s Office has disbanded its public corruption unit.

From the WDN, via AP, via the LAT:

WASHINGTONSenator Dianne Feinstein is asking Attorney General Michael Mukasey to explain why the public integrity unit in the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles has been disbanded.
In a letter to Mukasey Wednesday Feinstein says the decision raises serious questions about whether public corruption cases will be vigorously pursued by the office.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles has said the move will actually increase resources for public corruption cases.

Previously on LAO there was this story.
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Evil home invaders

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The last time we wrote about a home invasion in San Marino it was after a million bees took overstately Stats manor.This caper seems slightly more serious. From KCBS/KCAL:


SAN MARINOSan Marino police are looking fortwo home invasion robbers, one of whom recently beat an 80-year-old woman while an accomplice stole jewelry from her bedroom.

The woman — whose name is not being released — was tied up during the March 17 crime, but she was not seriously hurt, according to police.


Both suspects were described as white men in their 40s.

One man knocked on the front door and told the victim he was looking for his lost dog. “Our victim was a little suspicious, but she decided to go check, and she closed the door and asked the gentleman to remain outside,” San Marino police Lt. Steve Johnson told KCAL.

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Grandma arrested for leaving baby in car

From thePSN:


SAN GABRIEL – Police arrested a woman Tuesday afternoon for leaving an infant inside a vehicle that was parked in the sun for about half an hour, authorities said.

Yue Gu, 50, of Monterey Park, was booked on charges of child endangerment, said San Gabriel police Lt. Darren Perrine.

Perrine said Gu, the child’s grandmother, parked her car in a restaurant parking lot in the 500 block of East Valley Boulevard at about 3 p.m. to use a rest room. The temperature inside the car had reached 111 degrees, he said.

A security guard heard the 2 month old’s screams from inside the car and called police, he added. The baby was transported to a hospital and has since been released.

“We make several arrests a year for this,” Perrine said

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