August 2009 Archives

The Forest folks issued a simple press release last night honoring two who were lost fighting hte Station Fire. Here's what it said:

It is with our deepest regret to inform you the media of the Line Of Duty Deaths for Fire Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall and Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones. These two members tragically lost their lives when the where overran by a fast moving fire which approached Fire Camp 16 on the "Station Fire" Incident.
Fire Captain Tedmund "Ted" Hall was 47 years of age and was a member of the Los Angeles County Fire Department for 26 years and lived in San Bernardino County, California. Firefighter Specialist Arnaldo "Arnie" Quinones was 35 years of Age, and was a member of the Los Angeles County Fire department for 8 years and lived in Palmdale, California.
Funeral arrangements are pending and information relating to services will be made available in the near future.

View Station Fire perimeters, evacuation areas and points of interest in a larger map

Incident Overview

Image options: [ Enlarge ] [ Full Size ]

Station Fire Information

August 31, 2009 9:00 a.m.

Fire Status

Fire Name: Station

Geographic Location: Highway 2 North of La Canada - Flintridge, CA

Acres Burned: 85,760

Start Date: August 26, 2009

Time: 3:20 p.m.

Percent Contained: 5%

Estimated Containment Date: 9/15/09

Cause: Under Investigation

Injuries: 3

Threatened:12,000

Commercial Buildings Threatened: 500

Structures Destroyed: 18

Resourses

Cooperators: Forest Service (Lead Agency) with support from Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles County Sherriffs Department, California State Highway Patrol, Cal Trans, Los Angeles City Fire Department

Approximate Personnel Assigned: 2,575

Helitankers 7

Helicopters 6

Air Tanker 8 (3 additional available as needed)

Engines 290

Hand Crews 54

Dozers 52

Summary: The Station Fire continues to burn within the Angeles National Forest and near surrounding foothill communities of La Canada-Flintridge, La Crescenta, Acton, Soledad Canyon, Pasadena and Glendale. The goals of the firefighters are to keep the fire west of Highway 39 and Angeles Crest Highway, east of Interstate 5, south of Highway 14, Pearblossom Highway, and Highway 138, and north of the foothill communities and the Angeles National Forest Boundary. Steep terrain, decadent old growth brush and hot dry weather are factors that drive fire activity. Firefighters are working to build fireline and protect structures within areas affected by the fire.

Evacuations:

North Side Mandatory

Chantry Flats: evacuations of the Chantry Flats area effective as of 10:00 am

Acton Area: There has been a mandatory evacuation of Soledad Canyon Rd. between Agua Dulce Canyon Rd. and Crown Valley Rd. There is a mandatory evacuation of the area bounded by Soledad Canyon Rd, Aliso Canyon Rd. and Angeles Forest Highway.

National Forest: Soledad Canyon Rd./Bootlegger Canyon Rd. Area AND Little Rock Recreation Area Mount Emma Rd. and Cheseboro Rd.

South Side Mandatory

National Forest: There has been mandatory evacuation of the area along Big Tujunga Canyon Rd. from Mount Gleason to Angeles Forest Highway.

There has been a mandatory evacuation along Little Tujunga Canyon Rd. north of the Little Tujunga Ranger Station and Gold Creek.

La Crescenta: Vicinity of Rosemont, La Crescenta, and Ramsdale AND north of Rockedell, Pineridge, Mountain Pine, and Markridge Rd.

La Canada Flintridge: There has been a mandatory evacuation of all streets east of Ocean View Blvd. and north of Los Amigos St. In addition, all streets north of Jessen Drive and Palm Drive have been evacuated as well. There has been a mandatory evacuation of all streets located west of Briggs Ave. and east of Pennsylvania Ave., in between Harmony Pl. and the foothills. There has been a mandatory evacuation of all streets north of Rockdell St. between Briggs Av. And Pine Glenn Rd.

Altadena: There has been a mandatory evacuation of all streets north of Loma Alta Dr., located between Lincoln Ave. and Lake Ave. In addition, all streets located in "The Meadows" have been evacuated as well. "The Meadows" consists of all streets located above Loma Alta Dr. and west of Lincoln Ave. to Aralia Rd.

Road Closures:

Red Rover Mine Rd. @ SR-14

Soledad Canyon Rd. @ Crown Valley Rd.

Escondido Rd.@ SR-14

Soledad Canyon Rd. @ SR-14 (exit only)

Agual Dulce Canyon Rd. @ SR-14

Placerita @ Sand Canyon Rd.

Big Pines @ SR-2

Aliso Canyon @ Soledad Canyon Rd.

Angeles Forest Highway @ Mt. Emma Rd.

Red Rover Mine Rd.@ Escondido Rd.

Aliso Canyon @ Ave Y-8

Little Tujunga @ Ranger Station

Open to Residents Only:

Effective (time)

Lake Blvd. to JPL and south of Cheyney Tr.

Evacuation Shelters: Located at La Canada High School; La Crescenta Valley High School and Golden Valley High School, Marie Kerr Park, Verdugo High School. Animal Shelters are located at Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, as well as the following special needs shelter. Pierce College (horses, donkeys and mules ONLY), Lancaster Animal Shelter and Agoura Animal Shelter are both accepting small animals.

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	Wednesday August 26th, 2009 approx 03:30 PM
Location	Los Angeles River Ranger District / Angeles National Forest
Incident Commander	Michael Dietrich

Current Situation

Total Personnel	2,575
Size	85,760 acres
Percent Contained	5%
Estimated Containment Date	Tuesday September 08th, 2009 approx 06:00 PM
Fuels Involved	Very heavy fuels of ceanothus, chamise, scrub oak and manzanita across the entire fire area, 15 to 20 feet in height with Big Cone Douglas Fir in the drainage bottoms. Fuels have not experienced any significant large fire activity in the past 40 years.
Fire Behavior	Fire behavior was extremely active with rapid rates of spread and flame lenghts up to 80 feet. All thresholds in place for determination of active fire behavior have been exceeded. Hot and dry with afternoon winds, especially over the upper slopes.
Significant Events	Mandatory Evacuations are in effect in many locations. The fire is threatening the Mount Lukens Communications Site, Mount Wilson Communications Facilities and Observatory and may reach these locations this burning period. Unified Command is in place.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Prepare and protect structures when and where necessary. Air operations will be heavy on the northwest perimeter.
Growth Potential	Extreme. The fire in the Acton area has spread down to the lower slopes adjacent to the road.
Terrain Difficulty	Extremely steep and inaccessible
Remarks	Angeles Crest Highway remains closed and is the primary access route for numerous private residences and the Mount Wilson Communication Facility and Observatory. Multiple evacuation centers have been established. The Red Flag warning will expire at 9:00 p.m. the evening.

There are several smoke animations on the web, including the SSD Fire Detection Map.This satellite image comes from the NOAA:

View Altadena evacuation area in a larger map

This from Caltechgirl

There is no clear boundaries to the area being evacuated in Altadena. 

Basic Information

Incident Type	Wildfire
Cause	Under Investigation
Date of Origin	Wednesday August 26th, 2009 approx 03:30 PM
Location	Los Angeles River Ranger District / Angeles National Forest
Incident Commander	Jim Hall

Current Situation

Total Personnel	751
Size	5,000 acres
Estimated Containment Date	Tuesday September 08th, 2009 approx 06:00 PM
Fuels Involved	Very heavy fuels of ceanothus, chamise, scrub oak and manzanita across the entire fire area, 15 to 20 feet in height with Big Cone Douglas Fier in the drainage bottoms. Fuels have not experienced any significant large fire activity in the past 40 years.
Fire Behavior	Friday behavior was very active to extreme, with rapid rates of spread and flame lenghts up to 80 feet. There is a potential for Saturday's fire behavior to be similar to Friday. Around noon Saturday, after the inversion has lifted, expect actively spreading fire with upslope runs. Spotting may occur from 1/4 mile up to 1/2 mile.
Significant Events	3 Mandatory Evacuations as of early Saturday morning include Starlight Crest Drive north to Green Ridge Court, including Forest Green Drive, two, Big Briar Way at Haskel, and third, Donna Maria Lane, Indian Drive, Hacienda Drive, Alta Canada Rd., North of Linda Vista, La Canada Blvd. north of El Vago Street. Evacuation Center: La Canada High School, 4463 Oak Grove Drive, La Canada, CA. Angeles Crest Highway remains closed.

Outlook

Planned Actions	Prepare and protect structures when and where necessary. Construct handlines and dozer lines.
Growth Potential	Extreme
Terrain Difficulty	Extremely steep and inaccessible
Remarks	1800 homes threatened. 27 commercial properties and 52 other stuctures threatened.

Current Weather

Wind Conditions	5-8 mph E
Temperature	80 degrees
Humidity	30%

Here's what the New York Times reported back in 1993, about the Altadena and Kinneloa fires:

The Altadena fire, which still raged today on the hillsides but no longer threatened houses, has been an example of this new complex challenge, said Clark Pearson, an inspector with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
On Wednesday, fire destroyed or damaged 115 homes and forced the evacuation of 500 others. The blaze injured 29 firefighters and caused at least $15 million in damage as it swept through 5,500 acres along the northern edges of Altadena and Pasadena.
A row of blackened walls and chimneys was all that was left today of some of the exclusive homes in the San Gabriel Mountains.
The police arrested a transient, Andres Huang, 39, who they say started the blaze after the nighttime campfire he built on a hillside on the edge of Angeles National Forest jumped out of control.
Mr. Huang was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday on a charge of setting an unlawful fire. He was not accused of arson; at least two of the dozen other fires that have swept Southern California in the last two days have been attributed to arson. About 90 percent of the 12,000 large and small wildfires in California each year are caused by people rather than by other sources, like lightning.
The first report of the Altadena fire came at 3:49 A.M. on Wednesday, and the heavy response reflected the lessons firefighters have learned in recent years in responding to wildfires in urban areas.
Five engines, four hand crews, two helicopters and a bulldozer were called in, Inspector Pearson said. In most cases, the bulk of the crew would immediately withdraw when the fire was determined to be minor.
At first, the crew was overwhelmed. The fire raced down scrub-filled Eaton Canyon, attacking a number of homes at the northwest edge of Pasadena.
As its threat grew, a full-fledged mobilization was put into effect.
More than 140 fire engines from around the state mobilized on the streets to await the unpredictable spread of the fire from the brush-covered canyons and hillsides. Air Attack on Blaze
Nearby a half-dozen crews of 15 or so men and women, including prison inmates, moved onto the hillsides with picks and shovels to cut firebreaks. Most of the injuries to firefighters were among these crews, Inspector Pearson said, though none of the injuries were serious.

ALTADENA - Sheriff's Search and Rescue team members are heading for Altadena neighborhods in Millard Canyon, La Vina and The Meadows warning residents to be ready to leave if the Station Fire continues to spread east.

"You can't help but be worried," said Sheriff's Law Enforcement Technician Ruby Kinkle. "We're advising people they should be ready to evacuate."

Meadows resident Lee Stapensky said it appeared to him that the fire was getting close to Gould Mesa, which he estimated is a mile from The Meadows, a semi-rural enclave in West Altadena reached by a single road.

"It looks as if it's approximately at the ridge west of Gould Mesa," said Stensky, who has been monitoring the fire since Friday morning.

Fire Service spokesman Bruce Quintelier said that, based on other hearsay reports, what Stepensky has seen "in a general fashion, may not be too far from being correct - spot on."

The fire has been burning so rapidly throughout the day that it's been difficult to keep up with mapping its perimeters, Quintelier said.

PASADENA -- The mother of a missing 26-year-old Pasadena who disappeared from a relatives house in Pacoima last week renewed her plea to the public for information Thursday.
Robin Sanderson was last seen at her grandmother's home in the 11000 block of Cayuga Avenue in Pacoima on Aug. 19, according to Los Angeles Police officials.
Her mother, Marian Thompson, said she and other family members feel the disappearance is uncharacteristic of Sanderson and are worried for her safety.
The Los Angeles Police Department's Missing Persons Unit is looking for Sanderson, along with her friends and family, the mother said.
"I can't describe how crushing this has been emotionally," Thomson said, "but I have hope someone will see her and call LAPD Missing Persons Unit."
"Our own network of family and friends are also trying to help by putting up flyers and keeping Robin in their prayers with pleas that she'll be found safe," she added.
Sanderson was a Pasadena resident who was staying with her grandmother while she waited for a new apartment in Pasadena to become available, Thompson said. She was in good physical health, but may have been in a depressed state of mind.
Also missing from the home was her 3-month-old pit bull-terrier mix puppy and her brown acoustic guitar.
Other important or valuable items, such as her cell phone and identification, were left at the Pacoima home.
Sanderson is described as biracial, black and white, about 5 feet 6 inches tall and about 175 pounds, police said.
She wears a gold nose ring and was last seen wearing a blue tank top, tan shorts and tan shoes, and was carrying a light yellow blanket and an orange bag.
Anyone with information is asked to call the LAPD at (877) 527-3247.

POMONA -- Pomona police are reaching out to the Spanish-speaking community in hopes of tracking down a family considered "persons of interest" in the death of a 15-year-old girl four years ago.
The body of Yanely Ulloa of Santa Ana was found Aug. 5, 2005, inside the trunk of her then-boyfriend's 1984 BMW abandoned in the 900 block of West Mission Boulevard in Pomona, Pomona police Sgt. Matt Stone said in a written statement.
She died from multiple stab wounds and other unknown injuries, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
The boyfriend, 25-year-old Jose Martin Granados, and his family disappeared shortly after the killing and have not been seen since.
"Yanely Ulloa had run away with Jose Granados about a week before her death," according to the police statement. "It was the last time she was seen alive."
At the time of the slaying, Granados was staying with his mother, 47-year-old Benita Villa-Cervantez, and brother, 23-year-old Francisco Granados, in Anaheim, authorities said.
Detectives tracked Granados, his mother and his brother to Cuernavaca, Mexico, but were unable to find them, Stone said. They are believed to still be living in Mexico.
Jose Granados and his family members are not considered suspects in Ulloa's death, he added, "But are believed to know the circumstances surrounding her death.
Police also want to talk to Jose Granados' father, 51-year-old Carlos Palacios, who is believed to be living somewhere in the United States.
Ulloa is survived by a daughter, Stone added.
Anyone with information is asked to call Pomona police Detective Dan Kono at (909) 620-2358, or the confidential Pomona police tip line at (909) 620-2085.

Attached below is a press release issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Friday, which announces its conclusions in the investigation into the singer's death.  The case was deemed a homicide. As listed below, five drugs were found in Jackson's system during examination, and two of them caused his death.

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RE: Coroner Case Number 2009-04415 - JACKSON, Michael Joseph

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner completed its investigation into the death of Michael Joseph Jackson, age 50, who died on June 25, 2009.

The cause of death was established as:

ACUTE PROPOFOL INTOXICATION

OTHER CONDITIONS CONTRIBUTING TO DEATH: BENZODIAZEPINE EFFECT

The manner of death has been ruled: HOMICIDE

The drugs PROPOFOL and LORAZEPAM were found to be the primary drugs responsible for Mr. Jackson's death. Other drugs detected were: Midazolam, Diazepam, Lidocaine and Ephedrine.

The final Coroner's report, including the complete toxicology report will remain on Security Hold at the request of the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles County District Attorney. In accordance with this request, the Department of Coroner will not comment on its completed investigation.

From today's story:

View Visible smoke plumes in Southern California in a larger map

PROCLAMATION

by the

Governor of the State of California

            WHEREAS on August 26, 2009, fires started in Los Angeles County and continue to burn; and 

            WHEREAS on August 27, 2009, fires stared in Monterey County and continue to burn; and 

            WHEREAS the fires have burned approximately 13,000 acres, and have threatened structures, destroyed homes, and have forced hundreds of people to be evacuated and sent to emergency shelters; and

            WHEREAS the circumstances of these fires, by reason of their magnitude, are or are likely to be beyond the control of the services, personnel, equipment and facilities of any single county, city and county, or city and require the combined forces of a mutual aid region or regions to combat; and

            WHEREAS under the provisions of section 8558(b) of the California Government Code, I find that conditions of extreme peril to the safety of persons and property exist due to the fires in Los Angeles and Monterey Counties.

            NOW, THEREFORE, I, ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, Governor of the State of California, in accordance with the authority vested in me by the state Constitution and statutes, including the California Emergency Services Act, and in particular, section 8625 of the California Government Code, HEREBY PROCLAIM A STATE OF EMERGENCY to exist within Los Angeles and Monterey Counties.

            IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that all agencies of the state government utilize and employ state personnel, equipment and facilities for the performance of any and all activities consistent with the direction of the California Emergency Management Agency (CalEMA) and the State Emergency Plan, and that CalEMA provide local government assistance under the authority of the California Disaster Assistance Act. 

            I FURTHER DIRECT that as soon as hereafter possible, this proclamation be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State and that widespread publicity and notice be given of this proclamation.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Great Seal of the State of California to be affixed this 28th Day of August 2009.

This map is generated using the GeoMAC Viewer, which includes HMS satellite imagery.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE - Residents are being evacuated in the northern part of La Canada Flintridge as the Station Fire now rages out of control.

At about 8 p.m. last night, the Station Fire was 10-percent contained and had burned 500 acres. Overnight, firefighters lost whatever containment they had and the fire has now scorched 1500 acres, spokesman with the U.S. Forest Service Gabriel Alvarez said.

"The wind shifts, the weather conditions, a lot of different factors," contributed to the increased intensity in the fire, Alvarez said.

Residents north of Vista Del Valle Road, east of La Canada Boulevard and north of Starlight Crest Drive are under mandatory evacuations, Alvarez said. About 873 homes are under those evacuations, Alvarez said. An evacuation center has been set up at La Canada High School.

There are now 750 fire personnel fighting the Station Fire, one air tanker, four helicopters and as many as sixteen engines, Alvarez said.

Highway 2, Angeles Crest Highway, is closed all the way across to Big Pines, Alvarez said.

SIERRA MADRE -- Officials rescued an apparently sick or injured bear Thursday that had barricaded itself underneath a Sierra Madre home, authorities said.
The incident began about 5 p.m. at a home on Olive Tree Lane, north of Grandview Avenue, police and search and rescue officials said.
"It's a first for us," Sale said. "In my 32 years with the team, I've never done a rescue on a bear."
After being tranquilized by an official from the California Department of Fish and Game, members of the Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team improvised a harness and a rope and pulley system to pull the bear out from the home's crawl space, Sierra Madre Search and Rescue Team member Dick Sale said.
The female bear of about 175 pounds was taken to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Pasadena, he said.

BALDWIN PARK -- Baldwin Park police Capt. Michael Taylor sat down at a restaurant Thursday for a grilled chicken lunch, but ended up saving a toddler's life, officials and restaurant employees said.
Taylor said he had just gotten up to pay for his meal about 1 p.m. at the El Llano restaurant, 13720 Ramona Blvd., when he noticed a 1-year-old girl choking.
Her family members desperately patted her on the back to try to free the obstruction -- a tortilla chip -- with no success.
"She was choking to death," Taylor said. "She was turning blue."
Restaurant waitress Julie Jimenez said Taylor immediately sprung into action and performed the Heimlich Maneuver.
"I was so scared," she said. "I was happy he saved the life of the little girl."
After performing the Heimlich Maneuver, the girl appeared to be doing just fine, Taylor said.
"I felt sorry for the family," he said. "They seemed pretty shaken up by the whole thing."
Taylor added he did not tell the "very grateful" family he was a police officer.
Jimenez said she was glad to have Taylor as a regular customer of the restaurant.
"I feel we need more people like that," she said. "I'm very glad that I know Capt. Mike."
Thursday's incident was not the first time Taylor has rescued a choking stranger at a Baldwin Park restaurant, Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano said.
"It doesn't surprise me, since I've seen it once before," the mayor said of the rescue.
About five years ago, Taylor was having lunch with Lozano at another Baldwin Park restaurant when Taylor noticed a man choking and performed the Heimlich Maneuver, Lozano said.
The mayor added he was amazed by how quickly Taylor reacted to the situation.
"The guy thanked him, and it was amazing," Lozano said. "He told me that it comes with the job."
Taylor said he also once had to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on his own toddler son more than 20 years ago when he choked on a cracker.
The captain encouraged all parents to take a class in basic life-saving procedures, such as the Heimlich Maneuver.
"I'm glad I picked that restaurant to have lunch (Thursday)," Taylor said. "Sometimes, there's a reason for things."

Here' what the AP is reporting:

SACRAMENTO, Calif.  -- A woman who entered a California police station is believed to be 1991 abduction victim Jaycee Lee Dugard, who was 11 when kidnapped.
Deputies are 99 percent sure the woman is Dugard, said Lt. Les Lovell of the El Dorado Sheriff's Department. He says DNA tests were being conducted.
Witnesses reported that a vehicle with two people drove up to Dugard and abducted her while her stepfather was watching.
Lovell says two people have been taken into custody.
The sheriff's department has scheduled a news conference to discuss the case later today.

FBI Poster

PASADENA -- Police arrested two men who allegedly burglarized a home a home Wednesday, and are investigating them for possible connections to other Pasadena burglaries, authorities said.
Tyquan Davis, 20, and Antyown Houston, 27, both Los Angeles County residence, were each booked on suspicion of residential burglary, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said.
A third suspect remained at large, she said.
The arrests were made after neighbors called police to report suspicious activity shortly before 1 p.m. in the area of Glenullen and Sequoia drives, the lieutenant said.
One person called to report a suspicious man sitting in a van in the area, while others reported seeing two men carrying a TV and other valuables out of a neighbor's house, Ibarra said.
The man in the van fled before police arrived, she said, but the other two suspected burglars were found and arrested after a search of the neighborhood. The allegedly stolen property was recovered.
Officials are now working to to connect the suspects to other Pasadena burglaries.
According to sheriff's booking records, Davis is being held without bail and Houston is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail. No information was available Wednesday regarding their initial court appearances.

IRWINDALE -- At a 6 p.m.  briefing Wednesday, law enforcement and fire officials gathered at the Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area in Irwindale to discuss the progress thus far and future plans for battling the Morris Fire, which has scorched about 1,700 acres in the Angeles National Forest since Tuesday.

The fire jumped over the San Gabriel River late Tuesday and more than doubled in size over the course of Wednesday.

The main concerns were the eastern and southern edges of the fire. On the east, vast open areas of vegetation stood in the fire's path. To the south, officials wanted to make sure the fire remained in the forest and didn't reach foothill communities.

Officials hoped Wednesday to keep the blaze confined west of Glendora Ridge, east of Monrovia Peak, south of the Valley of the Moon and north of the forest boundary.

The fire ran up against a ridge on it's northern side west of the river, and officials were confident they could keep it from spreading to the north.

At the Santa Fe Dam command post, a "full camp" was set up Wednesday, which included command and control trailers, sleeping trailers, a tented cafeteria, and areas to store supplies.

 PHOTO: Fire officials take a break from the fire line to catch a meal at a tented cafeteria at the Incident Command Post.

 

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- A wildfire stoked by an unrelenting heatwave burned its way up Azusa Canyon Road Wednesday blackening more than 750 acres and a "rapidly moving" second fire threatened to close the Angeles Crest Highway several miles north of Morris Dam.

Officials late Wednesday ordered mandatory evacuations for dozens of residents along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River, and could offer no estimate as to when the blaze might be contained.

"It definitely has the potential to grow," said Pam Bierce, a spokeswoman with the Southern California Incident Management team, a federal government agency that is coordinating the firefighting effort.

As of 3:30 p.m. the fire was 10 percent contained but a second blaze threatened homes as far north as the Angeles Crest Highway, officials said.

An evacuation center has been set up at El ROble Imtermediate School, 665 North Mountain Avenue in Claremont has been established for those residents who are being escorted down from the canyon by deputies with the Los Angeles COunty Sheriff's Department.

A disptacher with Angeles National Forest Fire Service said the second blaze is west of the Morris Fire and that they have "full brush" on it and LA County Fire responded as well.

The second fire was reported at Mile Marker 29 on the Angeles Crest Highway. It was reported at 3:23 p.m. as a brush fire, a Los Angeles COunty Fire Department inspector said.

Using raw data provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner, I created a Zee Map listing the locations of several homicides recorded in Los Angeles County between Aug. 3 and Aug 17. The markers point to the locations of the homicides. The data is provided by the coroner.

This from an overnight update:

California's attorney general and the Imperial County District Attorney will file charges against more than a dozen members of a drug cartel that may have had operations in the Inland Empire, officials at the attorney general's office said.

Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. will announce the indictments today in Imperial County. The indictments come following an eight-month investigation during which a state narcotics officer worked his way into a Mexican drug cartel.

The investigation, dubbed "Operation Silver Fox," included surveillance operations in Colton, Rialto, Fontana, Ontario and Riverside.
Officials in Brown's office said the indictments, which should offer a glimpse at the cartel's Inland Empire operations, will be released today.

Along with more than a dozen indictments, the investigation netted weapons, drugs and drug-smuggling vehicles, including a truck with a 1,100-pound cocaine vault.

Following today's announcement, which is scheduled for 10 a.m., Brown will meet with local law enforcement officials, including members of the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement and Imperial County Narcotic Task Force, and with his cross-border counterpart, the attorney general of the Mexican state of Baja California.

Here's a bulletin from the National Weather Service for Azusa, where a 700 acre wildfire continues to burn above Morris Dam:

Some reports have listed the Morris Fire at 700 acres this morning. The state's Inciweb site maintains that the blaze has consumed 275 acres. 

Here's what the California Highway Patrol has posted on its CAD Web site:

Incident: 2343 Type: Structure or Grass Fire Location: SAN GABRIEL CANYON RD MM 20

ThomasBrothers: 509 5F

info as of: 8/25/2009 7:48:40 PM

ADDITIONAL DETAILS

7:30PM PER 81-105 MM 21, SO HAS UNIT AT EAST FORK - WILL CONTINUE TO GLENDORA RIDGE AT MT BALDY RD - 1039 81-S7

7:21PM 1039 81-S5, AFFIRM DENY ALL ACCESS

7:21PM PER 81-203, CONFIRM IF WE ARE TO DENY EVERYONE ACCESS, VEHS & PED S

7:02PM 1039 81-S7 W/ LINE 30

6:49PM PER FIRE AIR UNIT ON CLEMARS, FIRE IS APPROX 250 ACRES,

SPREADING NB THRU THE CANYON, HAVE MULTIPLE SQUADS AND AT LEAST 7 CAMP CREWS ENRT

6:05PM GLENDORA PD REQ UNIT TO GLENDORA SIDE NEAR GATE TO RELIEVE 1 OF THEIR AUXILLARY UNITS REQ CB WITH ETA

5:16PM 1039 SDSO ADVS COMMAND POST AT ENCANTO AT MM 19-23 LARGE FIRE GROWING AT 50 TO 100 ACRES OR MORE--

5:09PM SDSO REQ ING CHP AT BASE OF GLENDORA MTN RD FOR 1184

4:57PM AZUSA PD ADVS 1097 NB AT MM 22 - REQ CHP FOR ASSIST IN 1184

4:37PM REQ CHP CLOSED DOWN AT MOUTH OF CANYON

RESPONDING OFFICERS STATUS

7:13PM CHP Unit On Scene

7:16PM CHP Unit On Scene

7:35PM CHP Unit Enroute

7:36PM CHP Unit On Scene

7:37PM CHP Unit En route

Here's the link. It's live and streaming.

Scanner reports indicate a wildfire near Morris Dam may have been started by a errant cigarette. Deputies are seeking a La Puente teen in connection with incident. Apparently a few teens have been detained near the scene, according to traffic on the LASD A-TAC frequency.

#Morris
View Azusa Fire in a larger map

With a header visible throughout the San Gabriel Valley, a wildfire is burning out of control in Azusa Canyon near Morris Dam and East Fork Road. Preliminary data indicates the fire has burned about 25 acres. Several news helicopters are hovering above the brusher.

The gang rape of an 18-year-old girl in Baldwin Park Monday morning is getting lots of attention from local media this morning. Television trucks are parked outside the Baldwin Park Police Department, but police are saying little.

PASADENA -- Police arrested three people Sunday on suspicion of attacking a woman with a hammer and dousing four other people with a dangerous chemical during a family dispute, police said.
Mary King, 54, Zelda Owney, 37, and a 17-year-old boy were booked on suspicion of attempted murder, Pasadena police Lt. Keith Jones said. All three are Pasadena residents.
The incident began about 5 p.m. when a woman went to the home of extended family members in the 300 block of East Washington Boulevard and a verbal argument erupted, the lieutenant said.
The woman left and went home to the 1500 block of El Sereno Avenue, but was followed soon after by a group of people who were at the Washington Boulevard home, Jones said.
One man attacked the woman with a hammer, he said, striking her in the side of the head.
The blow was a glancing one, Jones said. The woman refused medical treatment.
Others in the group of alleged attackers, including Owney, King and the teenage boy, squirted a caustic chemical, later determined to be drain cleaner, on four other people at the El Sereno home, Jones said.
The four people doused with the chemical suffered burns and blistering, he said, and were taken to a hospital for treatment.
The hammer-wielding man, as well as other suspects, remained at large Sunday.
According to court records, the adult suspects are being held in lieu of $1 million bail. No information was available regarding their initial court appearance.

INDUSTRY -- Two men arrested in connection with a strip club shooting in Industry that left three people wounded were free Sunday after being cleared as suspects, authorities said.
The men, initially jailed as suspects in the shooting, were released after detectives determined they were not the attackers, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Jeff Gordon said.
"They were assisting the victims," he added.
The shooting was reported about 12:15 a.m. Saturday at Miss Kitty's Gentleman's Club.
Deputies responding to reports of a shooting found two people suffering from gunshot wounds inside the business, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Pete Cacheiro said. A third victim was dropped off at a hospital by companions.
Officials described the victims as a black man, a Latino man and a Latino woman. All three are expected to survive.
Sheriff's officials declined to release the circumstances surrounding the shooting or the motive in the attack, citing an "ongoing investigation," Gordon said.

ARCADIA -- An elderly Duarte woman had her car stolen as she attended Sunday morning services at an Arcadia church, police said.
The woman came out of morning services at Holy Angels Church, 370 Campus Drive, about 10:20 a.m. and discovered her car had been stolen from the parking lot, Arcadia police Lt. Roy Nakamura said.
Police believe the 4-door, silver, 2007 Cadillac STS sedan was taken from the parking lot between 8 a.m. and 10:20 a.m.

INDUSTRY -- Two men and a woman were shot and wounded early Saturday inside an Industry strip club, and two men were jailed in connection with the shooting, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 12:15 a.m. at Miss Kitty's Gentleman's Club, 13079 Valley Boulevard, on the Bassett border.
"There were two gunshot victims inside the location," Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Walk said. "One was shot in the abdomen, one in the leg."
Another wounded person was discovered a short time later.
"A third victim was driven to a local hospital by his companions," Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Pete Cacheiro said.
All three victims were expected to survive, officials said. They were described as a black man, a Latino man and a Latino woman.
The circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately available, and investigating detectives withheld the suspects' names pending further investigation, Cacheiro said.
"Because it's an ongoing investigation, there's some things that we probably shouldn't release," Cacheiro said.
The shooting is being investigated by the sheriff's gang unit.
"There's been no mention of gang-involvement at this time," Walk said, "but that's a gang area."
The bar was open for business Saturday, however the owner could not be reached for comment.

INDUSTRY -- A big rig fire overturned and burst into flames on the 60 Freeway near Industry Saturday, sending the driver to the hospital with burns and prompting the closure of a transition road for more than six hours, authorities said.
The incident occurred just after 5:20 a.m. on the westbound 60 Freeway at the 605 Freeway, in an unincorporated county area near Industry, California Highway Patrol Officer Anthony Martin said.
The truck driver, a man of about 60 years old, suffered third-degree burns to one of his arms and was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for treatment, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Ruben Torrez said.
The big rig apparently struck an abandoned vehicle, went over an embankment and caught fire, fire officials said.
By the time the flames were extinguished, "There was nothing left of the truck at all," Torrez said. It was unclear what, if any, cargo the truck carried.
According to CHP logs, and motorists were initially driving backwards on the northbound 605 Freeway transition road to the westbound 60 Freeway to avoid the fire.
The transition road was closed for more than six hours as officials checked for fire damage on a bridge passing over the 605 Freeway, Martin said.
The fire spread to nearby grass, authorities said, but firefighters quickly doused those flames.

AZUSA - Officials jailed a 14-year-old boy Friday on suspicion of doing more than $10,000 worth of damage in graffiti vandalism throughout Azusa.
The arrest came during a graffiti-enforcement operation carried out by Azusa police, Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies and a county probation officer, Azusa police said in a written statement.
Following up on an investigation into local taggers, authorities searched the home of the teenager in the 17800 block of Newburgh Street, the statement said.
They found graffiti paraphernalia and property recently reported as lost, police said.
The teen was already on probation, though it was not clear Saturday what for.
He was arrested on suspicion of vandalism, misappropriation of lost property and violation of probation, police added.
Officials said the suspected vandal was then released to his parents with a written promise to appear in court.
The Azusa Police Department takes a "zero tolerance" stance toward graffiti, police said, and seeks restitution from convicted vandals and their parents to pay for the damage they cause.

Teachers and classmates remembered a 16-year-old Walnut High School senior who was killed in a car crash Thursday -- the day before her 17th birthday -- as an intelligent and compassionate girl who spent her free time giving to the community.

Here's excerpts from a developing story from reporter Thomas Himes:

A 16-year-old girl died and three other teenagers were injured Thursday in a car crash on Grand Avenue in Industry, authorities said.
Jessica Hwang, a Walnut High school senior sustained fatal injuries when the car she was riding in was forced off the road.
"You don't think about things like this, especially at the peak, going in to senior year," classmate Melissa Pryor said.
A helicopter flew 16-year-old Michelle Lin and 17-year-old Esther Hong to Los Angeles County Hospital, after firefighters freed her from the wreckage. The 17-year-old male driver was treated for minor injuries at Pomona Valley Medical Center.
"Jessica, Michelle and Esther were inseparable," Walnut High school teacher Rober Sandoval said. "They knew how to balance academics with extra-curricular activities."
Hwang and Lin were outstanding students at Walnut High School, where they participated in the International Baccalaureate program.
Hwang volunteered for a number of community service programs. As a member of Interact she provided companionship to the elderly residents of ParkVista at Morningside, and tutored children at Vejar and Collegewood elementary schools.

INDUSTRY -- A freight train crashed into a truck Friday shutting down a major road for most of the day, authorities said.
The crash occurred shortly before 12:15 p.m. on Nogales Street at Railroad Street, just north of the 60 Freeway, Los Angeles County Fire Department Captain Mike McHargue said.
Though firefighters were preparing for the worst when they received a call of a train crashing into a truck, "actually, there were no apparent injuries," McHargue said.
The driver of the truck, a man in his 50s, was hospitalized as a precaution, the captain said.
The man was inside the truck when it was struck, he added, but the cargo portion of the vehicle took the brunt of the impact.
Nogales Street was closed in both directions at the crash scene as officials worked to repair and remove the damaged train, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Sonja Bracken said. The street was expected to remain closed until at least 10 p.m.
According to California Highway Patrol logs, the westbound 60 Freeway offramp to Nogales Street was also closed down until the train could be removed.
The bobtail-style truck apparently became stuck in traffic on the train tracks and was struck by the eastbound Union Pacific freight train, Bracken said.
The railroad signals appeared to have been working properly, McHargue added.
"There was no malfunction that we know of," he said.
Either the crash itself or the commotion that followed disturbed a nearby bee hive, McHargue said. The insects did not appear to be swarming or posing an immediate threat to people, and vector control officials were notified of the hive.
The captain added that the crash also dislodged one of the railroad signal boxes, exposing underground wires.

COVINA -- Firefighters made quick work of a 1-acre brush fire Friday reported in an unincorporated county area known as Covina Hills, authorities said.
The blaze was reported about 2:30 p.m. along the westbound 10 Freeway near Via Verde, Los Angeles County Fire Department Inspector Frederic Stowers said.
Five fire engines and a helicopter were able to extinguish the flames in about 20 minutes, he said.
The fire was initially reported as a quarter-acre of brush burning uphill through light brush, Stowers said.
No injuries were reported and the fire did not appear to have threatened any structured, he added.
The cause remained under investigation.

PASADENA -- Police released a 9-1-1 call on Thursday from a Pasadena woman and her boyfriend who have been charged with the torture and murder of the woman's 2-year-old son.

In the call, Maria Palaez screams frantically as she tells the operator that her son, Rene Torres, is not breathing and is bleeding from his mouth...

Full story.

Audio recording of 9-1-1 call.

PHOTO: Deputy Public Defender Suzanne Vega stands next to Gabriel Diaz at Pasadena Courthouse on Thursday while Maria Palaez stares downward. (Walt Mancini / Staff Photographer)

POMONA -- A 60-year-old Perris man died Thursday after he crashed his motorcycle on the freeway and was then struck by a truck, authorities said.
The crash was reported about 2:20 p.m. on the 71 Freeway, just north of Pomona Boulevard.
The dead man's name was not released pending positive identification and notification of family members, coroner's officials said.
The motorcyclist was southbound on the freeway at an unknown speed when he lost control of his Kawasaki motorcycle and was thrown into traffic lanes, California Highway Patrol Officer Edmund Zorrilla said.
He was then struck by the rear tires of a Chevy box truck being driven by a 53-year-old man from Mesa, Arizona, Zorrilla added.
The motorcyclist suffered trauma to his chest and was pronounced dead at the scene, he added.

Following the passage of a bill designed to cut $1.2 billion from the California prison system by releasing felons early, along with other measures, State Senator Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, fired off a scathing criticism of his democratic counterparts.

The bill passed by a margin of 21-19 Thursday, and still faces a vote in the State Assembly. Four democrats opposed the bill, along with all republicans, according to the Associated Press.

"Sending thousands and thousands of inmates home in an early release line up places California families in grave danger," Huff said in a written statement. "There is no doubt that the state's prison system is collapsing, but there are more reasonable and respobsible ways in which to save money."

According to the AP:

If also approved by the Assembly, the governor's proposal would release or divert from state prisons 27,000 inmates in the current fiscal year and another 10,000 in the fiscal year that begins next July.

It would do so through a range of measures:

• Inmates with less than 12 months to serve, who are over age 60 or who are medically incapacitated could be released from prison and given home detention with electronic monitoring.

• Sentences for certain property crimes will be lowered to misdemeanors, meaning convicts won't have to spend time in prison. Those include vehicle theft, petty theft with a prior conviction, receiving stolen property and check-kiting, a scam that primarily targets banks with fraudulent deposits.

• Allow more inmates to gain early release by completing educational, vocational or substance abuse rehabilitation programs.

• Ease supervision for thousands of parolees, making it more difficult to send them back to prison for violations.

"This law," Huff said, "undermines California's Three Strikes Law and aids in the release of 27,000 'non-violent' criminals."

He added that the definition of 'non-violent criminal' is "deeply flawed," and would allow people convicted of crimes such as elder abuse, stalking and identity theft to be eligible for early release.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

The District Attorney's office will charge a Pasadena couple with murder, torture and methamphetamine possession after a two-year-old was found dead in their home, officials said Thursday.

By some estimates there are as many as 400 members of the Denver Lanes street gang living in Pasadena.

A blood gang that probably originated in Los Angeles, PDL is often responsible for much of the violence that occurs in Northwest Pasadena.

Needless to say, the streets, apartments and housing projects PDL claims as its turf don't often make New Year's Day television broadcasts highlighting the wonders of the Rose City.

Neither does much of the rest of the city north of the 210 Freeway for that matter. Where turf is claimed by gangs like the Pasadena Latin Kings, the Raymond Avenue Crips, Northside Pasadena, the Villa Boyz, Varrio Pasadena Rifa, the Summit Street Smokers, Pepper Street, Squiggly Lane and the Project Gangsters.

Some wear red like the Bloods. Some wear blue like the Crips. Others, like the Project Gangsters, simply wear black.

On a summer day in the Northwest, families sweltering in cramped apartments seek refuge on rickety balconies. A cop drives by in an unmarked car and gets mad-dogged by an old woman who mouths obscenities before flipping the bird.

Down the road on Orange Grove Boulevard, the passenger in a car traveling the opposite direction hangs out the window and contorts his hand into an unmistakable gang sign.

On Howard Street, a group of young men shoot craps as they banter with the cop about the neighborhood.

Outside a Washington Boulevard apartment complex, a guy once named in an

injunction against the PDL gang tells the cop his brother will be "out in a minute." In other words, his brother is doing prison time and probably has two or three years to go before he's eligible for parole.

On another street the cop points out the luxury Lexus that belongs to the PDL's shot-caller. Near Robinson Road, he points out a yellow mansion with exterior spiral staircases and white trim. It's surrounded by a 6-foot-high, wrought-iron fence.

"They shoot pornos there," he says. "Or at least they used to."

Up on Woodbury, the detective talks to a young girl about her family. She says many of her relatives are unavailable. But, "They'll be back in a minute."

Elsewhere drug deals go down in alleyways and driveways. The sight of a white, unmarked patrol car sends the actors scurrying in various directions.

Up the road, a "basehead" looks lost standing outside an abandoned house. A couple of doors down three generations of a family that's well-known to cops in Northwest Pasadena gathers on their front lawn and driveway.

Most everywhere the detective gets stares and dirty looks.

Somehow the neighborhood has been a breeding ground for violence and bad behavior for as long as most remember. This is where gangs like PDL thrive.

"The gangs are constantly struggling for power in the community," Pasadena police Detective Kevin Gomez recently explained in a preliminary hearing for Dwayne Rice and Charles Wetstone, a pair of PDLs accused in the execution murder of Squiggly Lane rival David Crosby.

"The larger the territory, the more opportunities for the gang," he continued.

UPDATE: MISSING WOMAN FOUND:

MONTEBELLO - A missing 75-year-old woman with a history of dementia was found, apparently unharmed, Thursday morning wandering on the side of a local freeway.

The California Highway Patrol discovered Delfina Bonino walking westbound on the shoulder of the Pomona (60) Freeway, according to Montebello Lt. Mike Bergman.

 

MONTEBELLO -- Police asked for the public's help Wednesday to find a elderly woman who wandered away from her home.
Delfina Bonino, 75, who suffers from dementia, walked away from her home about 4 p.m. Wednesday and has not been seen since, Montebello police said in a written statement.
She has wandered off in the past, but was always found within several blocks of her home, police said.
Bonino is described as a white woman, 5 feet, 2 inches tall and 112 pounds. She has green eyes and white hair.
She was last seen wearing a creme-colored blouse with a rose design on the front, blue pants with a peacock design on the side, blue slip-on shoes and white socks.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Montebello Police Department.

PHOTO of Delfina Bonino courtesy of the Montebello Police Department

COVINA -- A man stabbed and wounded a teenage boy on Azusa Avenue Wednesday, authorities said.
The incident occurred about 3:45 p.m. in the 1000 block of N. Azusa Avenue, Covina police Lt. John Curley said.
The teen was approached by a man and words were exchanged before the man pulled a knife and stabbed the teen in the back, the lieutenant said.
The wounded boy was taken to a hospital where he is expected to survive, Curley said.
Officials described the attacker as a Latino man of about 19 or 20 years old. He wore a black t-shirt.
The attack was likely gang-related, Curley said.

DIAMOND BAR -- Authorities jailed a Diamond Bar man and seized five area houses from him after he was arrested on suspicion of eight counts of workers' compensation insurance premium fraud, officials said.
Joseph Baiden, 56, surrendered to investigators Tuesday, California Department of Insurance officials said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Baiden posted $1 million bail later in the day and was released.
According to CDI officials, Baiden allegedly underreported about $20 million in payroll in order to fraudulently reduce his worker's compensation insurance payments. The estimated loss to the CDI is $1.4 million.
In a written statement, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said said Baiden was apparently using the profits of the fraud to enrich himself.
"It appears that Baiden was living a lavish life-style due to ill-gotten gains," Poizner said.
Following the investigation, he added, "the walls supporting his fraudulent schemes have come crashing down on him."
Investigators seized five properties in Diamond Bar and Pomona from Baiden and froze his bank accounts and assets.
A phone number listed in public records as that of Baiden's most recent home was disconnected Wednesday.
The properties seized were his primary home in Diamond Bar, 2710 Wagon Train Lane, two other homes in Diamond Bar, 2206 Rusty Pump Road and 868 Sunset Place, a vacant residential lot on Derringer Lane in Diamond Bar and a home in Pomona, 19 Pala Mesa Drive, CDI officials said. They are valued at about $4 million.
The investigation as launched after officials received an anonymous tip, CDI officials said.
The alleged fraud occurred between 2001 and 2007, when Baiden was running a Los Angeles-based company called Nurse Connection, Inc., authorities added.
According to the company's Web site, the business provides nurses and other medical professionals to health care providers.
The Nurse Connection, Inc., Web site also boasts "the industry's leading benefit package" for it's employees.
Baiden is due in Los Angeles Superior Court for arraignment on Aug. 28, records show.
If convicted on all charges, authorities said, Baiden faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in state prison and a $3.2 million fine.

*PHOTO of Joseph Baiden courtesy of the California Department of Insurance

WHITTIER -- Deputies jailed a suspected burglar Wednesday after a person arrived home and found him inside, authorities said.
The incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m. in the 1500 block of Dunton Drive, in an unincorporated county area near Whittier, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Robert Renteria said.
A homeowner called police to report coming home and seeing someone inside the house, the sergeant said.
Deputies surrounded the house, and the suspect fled from the back of the home and tried to run away, Renteria said.
The suspect was captured several houses down from where the burglary was reported, he added. Property from the apparently burgled home was recovered.
Officials were still working to positively identify the man, who was believed to be 26, Wednesday.

Police have apparently arrested the mother of a 2-year-old found dead in his crib Tuesday, according to Sheriff's booking records. The woman is being held on $1 million bail. 

INDUSTRY -- The Puente Hills Chili's restaurant is holding a benefit today to raise money for the family of a man who was shot to death last week during a confrontation near his home.
Father of four David Sua, 37, of Valinda died at the scene of the shooting Thursday after he confronted a man who threw a beer can at his family's car as he, his wife and his daughter were on their way to dinner, officials said.
The gunman, later identified as Jorge Zavala, 34, of West Covina, then fatally shot himself.
The benefit will be held at the restaurant, 17588 Castleton Street, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday, family members of Sua said.
Fifteen percent of customers' total bill, excluding alcohol, will be donated to the Sua family when the customer presents a flyer.
The flyers will be available at Big O Tires in West Covina, 444 S. Vincent Ave., as well as at the restaurant on the day of the event.

Jasmine Fiore had been a model for Howard Stern, a stripper and a Playboy model. Then she went missing and turned up dead and stuffed into a suitcase. The cops want to talk to her husband as a person of interest.

Photo from Silvaspot.com

This from ABC News:

On television, Ryan Alexander Jenkins was a reality-show contestant vying for the heart of a pretty blond. In real life, he's being sought by police in connection with the death of his wife, a former swimsuit model who was found stuffed into a suitcase days after he reported her missing.

VH-1 reality show contestant sought after model's body bound in a suitcase. Police say Jasmine Fiore, 28, had been strangled and left in a suitcase that was found Saturday morning in Buena Park, Calif. Jenkins, a finalist on the pre-taped VH1 reality competition "Megan Wants a Millionaire," has not been seen by authorities since.

Police have named Jenkins, 32, as a "person of interest" and say he may be headed to his native Canada. ABC's Los Angeles affiliate KABC reported today that authorities put out an alert asking people to keep an eye out for either his black BMW X5 or Fiore's missing car -- a white 2007 Mercedes.

This from the Star-News: 

PASADENA -- An autopsy is scheduled to be performed today on a 2-year-old Pasadena boy found dead in his crib yesterday, county coroner's officials said this morning.

Some preliminary results could be available late this afternoon, officials said.

Police received a frantic call from the boy's mother saying the toddler was unresponsive. Paramedics rushed to the home in the 500 block of North Summit Avenue on Tuesday morning, but were unsuccessful in their attempts to revive the child, who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Dwayne Rice, a member of the Pasadena Denver Lanes Blood street gang and Charles Wetstone, his little homie, must stand trial for the killing of David Crosby, a Squiggly Lanes gangster, a judge ruled Monday.

The past caught up with Gracie Gallegos, the former mayor of Pico Rivera. On her rap sheet, a felony conviction for Insurance fraud. Here's the story:

Below are excerpts from a story running in Monday's San Gabriel Valley Tribune:

VALINDA -- Virginia Sua will never forget the day her husband died -- because she was there.
David Sua, 37, of Valinda was fatally shot Thursday in front of Virginia and one of the couple's four children after a confrontation with a gunman, who later turned the gun on himself.
The Suas were just a block away from their home when it happened.
"It's the worst feeling to watch someone you love pass away in front of you while you try so hard to save them," Virginia Sua said.
The gunman was identified as 34-year-old Jorge Zavala of West Covina, said Katalin Van Meter, an investigator with the Los County Department of Coroner. He died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
The confrontation between Sua and Zavala began when Zavala threw a beer can at the family's SUV while they were driving to dinner at the nearby Boca Del Rio restaurant on Hacienda Boulevard, Virginia Sua said.
David Sua got out of the car and confronted Zavala, who then retrieved a handgun from a nearby parked truck and fired a single shot.
Virginia Sua said she heard her husband arguing with the man, accusing him of firing the gun at him. Zavala argued he shot a round in the air. Zavala then placed the gun against his own head, Virginia Sua said.
The men continued to argue as they walked about 50 feet down the street, toward a wash area, she said.
Zavala was acting very strange, she said, and tried to hand David Sua the handgun several times, saying "'here, take it.'"
David Sua pushed Zavala to the ground twice, his wife recalled.
"I saw my husband step forward toward him, and then I heard the shot," Virginia Sua said.
The gunman then immediately shot himself in the head, she said.
Zavala's family members have said they do not believe Zavala would have shot David Sua if he did not feel threatened.
Virginia Sua said while she feels for Zavala's family, "It hurts to see the suspect made a victim."
"There was really no reason for him to take my husband away," she added.
David Sua, who was a construction worker by trade, leaves behind two daughters, ages 16 and 19, and two sons, ages 14 and 11.
He grew up in Azusa and graduated from Gladstone High School in 1990.
He loved football, Virginia Sua said, and was a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. David Sua also spent a lot of time with his family doing outdoor activities such as riding dirt bikes, camping and jet-skiing.
"He was a good dad," Virginia Sua said.

*Photo courtesy of the Sua family

An emotionally disturbed man dumped cash out on two freeways in Glendora Sunday, prompting motorists to pull over and try to pick up the money from the roadway, authorities said.
The 56-year-old man, whose name was not released, then went to the Azusa Police Department where he told officials he wanted to commit suicide, Azusa police Lt. Steve Hunt said in a written statement.
The incident began about 11:50 p.m. when the man started throwing money out of his car on the westbound 210 Freeway between the 57 Freeway and Grand Avenue, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kurt Stormes said.
Six or seven vehicles pulled over, and about 10 people ran into traffic lanes to grab up the cash, Stormes said.
CHP officers recovered about $1,000 from the freeway, in 20-, 50- and 100-dollar bills, he added.
The man showed up at the Azusa Police Department, 725 N. Alameda Avenue, about noon, police said, where he told police of his intent to kill himself.
Paramedics treated him for both physical and mental issues and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation, according to the police statement.
Officials ask that anyone who picked up some of the money to turn it into the Azusa Police Department so it can be returned to the man.
Police also cautioned motorists against trying to pick up money on the freeway.
"Please do not stop on the freeway to look for money," the police statement said. "Stopping on the freeway can be hazardous or even fatal."

BASSETT -- A mobile home was destroyed by fire Saturday, though the resident was able to escape unharmed, authorities said.
The blaze broke out about 8 p.m. at the Wildwood Mobile Home Country Club, 901 Sixth Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Hiroshi Yokoyama said.
Officials found the mobile home engulfed in flames, it was ultimately declared a total loss, the lieutenant said.
The dollar-value of the damage was estimated at $100,000, he added.
The cause of the fire initially appeared to have been some sort of electrical short, Yokoyama said.

POMONA -- An unknown assailant stabbed and seriously wounded a Pomona man during a fight early Saturday, authorities said.
Joseph Jones, 27, was rushed to a trauma center with wounds that were initially believed to be "severely life-threatening," following the 1:41 a.m. incident in the 1300 block of West Mission Boulevard, Pomona police Sgt. Horace Blehr said in a written statement.
After undergoing surgery, his condition was upgraded to stable but guarded, he said.
A description of the suspect was not available, police said.

DIAMOND BAR -- Deputies arrested five men who barricaded themselves inside a home for more than two hours Friday.
The standoff began about 6 p.m. at a house near Northview and Armitos places, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mario Estrada said.
A 33-year-old man who lived at the home was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, an outstanding bench warrant for drunken driving and a domestic violence incident that occurred earlier in the day in another jurisdiction, the sergeant said.
Four other men, all in their 20s, were also jailed on suspicion of resisting arrest.
Estrada declined to release the names of the suspects Saturday, citing an "ongoing investigation."
Deputies responded to the house after a neighbor reported hearing arguing and what sounded like gunshots coming from another home in the neighborhood, Estrada said.
Officials found the 33-year-old man in the backyard of his home, yelling and throwing items around, he said.
The man refused deputies orders to talk to them, Estrada said, and instead barricaded himself inside the house.
After about two hours, the four younger men emerged from the house and surrendered to police, he said. The fifth man surrendered without further incident about half an hour later. No gun was found inside the home.

SAN MARINO -- A masked bank robber escaped, though apparently empty-handed, following a heist at a San Marino bank branch Friday, officials said.
The crime was reported about 11:45 a.m. at Chase Bank, 2270 Huntington Drive, San Marino police Officer Tim Tebbetts said in a written statement. The bank is located next door to the police station, and was previously robbed on Jan. 30.
The robber was described as a black man, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing about 160 pounds, police said. He wore dark blue ski mask, a black sweat shirt, blue jeans, black shoes and black gloves.
He jumped over the counter at the bank and helped himself to all the cash in one of the tellers' drawers, Tebbetts said.
No weapon was seen, officials added.
Police said the robber was last seen running south from the bank.
A bag of money apparently abandoned by the suspect was located nearby, Tebbetts said, however the robberwas not found.

From Tribune staff reports:

VALINDA -- A man threw a beer can at a passing car and then fatally shot a man in front of his family before he killed himself, police said Friday.
David Sua, 37, of Valinda was pronounced dead Thursday night at the scene of the shooting, along with gunman George Zavala, 34, of West Covina, according to officials and family members.
The shooting occurred during a confrontation between the two men about 8:30 p.m. at Samgerry Drive and Rimgrove Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Ed Hernandez said in a statement.
"The victim, David Sua, was driving to dinner with his family when the suspect threw a beer can at the Sua family's vehicle," Hernandez said. "Sua exited the car and confronted the suspect, who produced a handgun."
Nearby resident Ramona Hagen said she saw the shooting and tried to help Sua's wife and teenage daughter render aid to Sua, who seemed to have a pulse moments after the shooting. Zavala, she added, appeared to have died instantly.
She was outside smoking a cigarette when she heard what sounded like a gunshot, she said.
As she approached the corner, she heard the sound of men yelling, and heard Sua say, 'My kids were in the car,' she said.
"I heard (Sua's) wife say, 'He has a gun,'" she said.
The two men walked down the street with the SUV close behind.
"The man with the gun pointed it at him and pushed it at his chest," Hagen said.
"If you're not going to use it, put it away," Hagen recalled Sua yelling as he pushed the gunman to the ground.
The gunman got up and pointed the weapon a second time, but Sua pushed him to the floor again, she said.
After getting up again, Zavala cocked his gun and shot Sua in the chest before shooting himself in the head, Hagen said.
Zavala's family members said they do not believe he would have gotten into a confrontation if he did not feel threatened.
Ana Zavala, George Zavala's sister, set up a small memorial of candles and flowers, which was next to another memorial in remembrance of Sua.
"How do you know (George Zavala) wasn't the victim?" she asked. "It's unfair to blame him for something they don't know."
She doubts her brother got into a confrontation without being provoked or fearing for his own safety. She didn't know why he carried a gun.
"He was very loving, happy, and always there to help everybody," Ana Zavala said. "He was very outgoing and a provider for his family."
George Zavala's other sister, Vanessa Zavala, 18, described her brother as a "good person" but also mentioned that George Zavala had been getting in arguments with his wife since New Year's Eve.
Sua's family members were not available to comment, but one of the Sua family's neighbors, Mariana Romano, 54, said David Sua was a "good neighbor and good man."
"We are very sad," Romano said of her family. "We talk to their family and he is a good man."
Romano said Sua cared for his children and always worked on his truck.
Raul Santana said he had lived next to the Sua family for more than six years.
"He was a really nice man," Santana said. "Everybody loved him. He was a good father and husband. His family's nice, too."
"We're really going to miss him," Santana added. "Everybody is sad."
The communities along the 60 Freeway, often referred to as the Valinda Corridor, have been rocked by violence this year. Deputies since March have responded to about 30 shootings in the area, according to newspaper archives and statistics from the sheriff's Industry Station.
On Friday, a 17-year-old boy walking at 2:30 p.m. on the 17400 block of Tadmore Street in East Valinda was shot and wounded by men who drove up in a car, authorities said. The shooting was probably gang related, they said.
The shooting was about one mile south of Thursday's alleged murder-suicide.

EAST VALINDA -- A 17-year-old boy was shot and wounded Friday in a possibly gang-related attack in a residential East Valinda neighborhood, authorities said.
The teen was walking down the street about 2:30 p.m. in the 17400 block of Tadmore Street when he was approached by two male Latinos in a car, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mark Lopez said.
One of the suspects shot him in the leg, he added.
The teen was airlifted to a local hospital but he is expected to be OK, Lopez said.
The two suspects appear to be gang members though deputies are still investigating the incident, officials said.
The shooting comes less than 24-hours after a murder-suicide that occurred about 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Samgerry Drive and Rimgrove Avenue.

LAPD SWAT units caused a stir on Aug. 3 when their caravan of scary looking vehicles sped through the San Gabriel Valley en route to a hostage rescue in Mira Loma.

The hostage had been shot through the gut and was apparently being held in a marijuana grow house.

The feds announced today they have indicted three suspects. Read the complaint against them below. It sounds like a wild, wild case. Highlights include the alleged bad guys attempting to secure $1 million in ransom from the man's family in Russia and treating the gunshot wound through his bowel with Pepto Bismol and Mylanta.

Download the document here if you can't see it below.



Kidnap Complait -

ARCADIA -- A motorcyclist struck two cars and was pinned underneath a parked vehicle Thursday, authorities said.
The collisions occurred about 1 p.m. on Baldwin and Woodruff avenues, Arcadia police Sgt. Mike Castro said.
After colliding with a Honda Accord and an Acura sedan, the motorcyclist fell off his older-model Harley Davidson motorcycle and slid under a parked car, where he became trapped, the sergeant said. The man had severe injuries but was expected to survive.
"They had to lift the car to get him out," Castro said.
The injured motorcyclist was described only as a man.
He appeared to suffer injuries to his head, leg and arms, police said.
He was taken to the hospital in stable condition, said Arcadia Fire Department Battalion Chief Barry Spriggs.
The Honda and Acura were headed north on Baldwin Avenue when, for unknown reasons, the motorcycle crashed into the driver's side of both cars, Castro said.
The drivers remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators, he added.
No one in the Honda or Acura was injured, officials said.
The circumstances of the crash remained under investigation by members of the department's Major Accident Investigation Team, officials said. Investigators made chalk markings and took measurements at the scene.
Northbound traffic on Baldwin Avenue was blocked during the investigation.
A small pool of blood and a motorcycle helmet remained Thursday near the parked car.

WEST COVINA -- Police arrested an Azusa man Wednesday on suspicion of scamming a Covina woman out of $45,000, authorities said.
Gerardo Alejandro Torres, 27, was booked on suspicion of grand theft and was released later Wednesday after posting $20,000 bail, West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said.
Police released a picture of Torres on Thursday in hopes of tracking down additional victims, Lopez said.
"We think this guy's probably done this before," he said, adding that Torres may have targeted the woman because she spoke primarily Spanish.
After obtaining a search warrant for Torres' home, "We found $39,000 in his house," he added. The other $6,000 allegedly stolen from the woman remained unaccounted for.
The scam took place Monday, West Covina police said in a written statement.
Torres told the woman he could help her buy a house in Ontario without going through the usual escrow process and without the usual fees, authorities said.
The woman gave Torres $45,000 and the two went to a Carrows restaurant in West Covina, 101 S. Azusa Ave., Lopez said.
While at the restaurant, Torres told the woman his car had been broken into and the money had been taken, according to the police statement.
Torres then called police and reported the break-in, Lopez said. "The woman, who spoke Spanish, didn't really understand what was being said."
When she realized Torres had not reported the $45,000 as missing, she herself became suspicious and called police.
An investigation led police to jail Torres, Lopez said. Other charges may be added in the future.
"There could be other victims out there and the suspect may have been targeting the Hispanic community," the police statement said.
Officials ask that anyone who has had a suspicious encounter with Lopez to contact the West Covina Police Department.
According to court records, Torres is due for arraignment in West Covina Superior Court Friday.

*Photo courtesy of the West Covina Police Department

PICO RIVERA -- A Pico Rivera man was arrested over the weekend on suspicion of shining a laser light at a sheriff's helicopter, authorities said.
Josue Martinez, 24, was booked on suspicion of discharging a laser at an aircraft, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said in a written statement.
The crime can be punished as either a misdemeanor or a felony at the discretion of prosecutors, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Jaime Baltazar said.
The incident occurred shortly before midnight Saturday when sheriff's officials patrolling from a helicopter notices someone repeatedly shining a green laser beam at the aircraft, according to the statement.
Deputies found the source of the beam, which appeared to coming from a group of three people in the 9100 block of Olympic Boulevard, officials said.
"Martinez had a green laser pen light in his possession and admitted shining it at the helicopter as it was flying," the statement said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Martinez was released Tuesday after posting $20,000 bail.
Shining a laser at aircraft is dangerous because it can impair the vision of the pilot, Baltazar said.
"We take this very seriously," he said. "If you do this at any aircraft, you could be arrested."

PICO RIVERA -- A father and grandfather found dead in an alley was not shot, as initially reported by sheriff's officials, but rather died of "blunt trauma," coroner officials said Wednesday.
Ernest Salazar, 48, of Pico Rivera was pronounced dead at the scene after his body was found about 3:30 a.m. Sunday in an alley north of the 9300 block of Beverly Road, authorities said.
Although it was initially reported by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officials as a shooting death, Salazar died from "multiple blunt trauma inflicted by another," Los Angeles County Department of Coroner investigator Katalin Van Meter said. His death was deemed a homicide as he was struck in the head with an unknown object.
Detective Q. Rodriguez of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau said investigators were left with few clues.
"We don't know what he was hit with," Rodriguez said.
"We don't believe he was hit by a car at this time."
One reason the death may have been first listed as a shooting was the account witnesses first gave authorities, Rodriguez said.
"Initially somebody claimed they heard gunshots," he said. "We never found anyone who told us that."
Although one neighbor said he heard gunshots the night Salazar's body was found, he said he heard them several hours before the body was discovered.
Family members said Salazar was a generous and dedicated family man who was well-known and well-liked in the area.
Authorities said they believe Salazar had ties to an area street gang but that he was not an active member.
A curb-side memorial to Salazar erected Sunday featured the letters "VPV" -- an acronym for the Pico Rivera street gang Varrio Pico Viejo -- and Salazar had several tattoos related to the gang, Rodriguez said.
He did not appear to be involved in gang life at the time of his death, however, the detective said.
"We don't believe he was active," Rodriguez said.
Family members also said he was not involved in gang activity.
Salazar is survived by three grown children and several grandchildren, family members said. He had just turned 48 on June 6.
"He was a good man that had good character," said Salazar's sister, Mary Salazar. "To know him was to love him."
Rodriguez said detectives are continuing to search for clues.
"We are still looking into all aspects," he said. "We're looking for witnesses."
Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

MONTEREY PARK - A driver apparently dozed off behind the wheel Wednesday as he drove his mother to work, crashing the car and injuring the mother, authorities said.
The crash occurred shortly before 7 a.m. on Ramona Boulevard at Corporate Center Drive, Monterey Park police Lt. Jess Alvarado said.
The driver, a 21-year-old local man, was headed west on Ramona Boulevard in a Subaru sedan when the car struck a traffic signal pole, the lieutenant said.
"It appears he might have fallen asleep at the wheel," he said.
The driver was not hurt, but his 46-year-old mother, also a local resident, appeared to have suffered a broken wrist and other injuries in the crash, Alvarado said. She was hospitalized with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.

KFI newsman Chris Little reports on his blog about the unusual arrest of a 22-year-old guy in the beach cities:

From ESPN, adding to Louisville Courier-Journal story (photo from Bad Jocks): 

Louisville coach Rick Pitino told police that he had consensual sex with and paid for an abortion for the woman who has been charged with trying to extort him, the Louisville Courier-Journal reported on Tuesday.

Karen Cunagin Sypher was federally charged in April with demanding cars, tuition for her children and finally $10 million. Police interviewed Pitino, who is married with five children, regarding the incident last month, and according to the newspaper, he said that he gave the woman $3,000 to have an abortion.

Manuel, "Lil Monkey" Penaloza has been captured in Mexico, officials said.

A stamp commemorating the 1950s TV show "Dragnet," which dramatized the Los Angeles Police Department, will be issued Tuesday during a ceremony at the LAPD Academy in Elysian Park.

The stamp is one of 20 that commemorates early TV shows and the only stamp to pay tribute to law enforcement, according to the U.S. Postal Service. The stamps go on sale at noon.

Opal Webb, surviving spouse of "Dragnet" creator Jack Webb, who played Sgt. Joe Friday, will be at the ceremony, along with Harry Morgan, who played Officer Bill Gannon in the 1960s TV revival of the show. One of the show's narrators, John Stephenson, is also to be at the ceremony, along with LAPD Chief William Bratton and Councilman Tom LaBonge.

At the event, people will be able to purchase an exclusive LAPD 140th anniversary postmark, complete with a commemorative envelope and a special "Badge 714" photo stamp, designed and offered through the LAPD Historical Society.

PICO RIVERA -- A lifelong Pico Rivera resident and father of three was shot to death Sunday in an alley near his home, authorities and family members said.
Ernest Salazar, 48, was walking home from the Wagon Wheel bar about 3:30 a.m. near Durfee Avenue and Beverly Road when the shooting occurred, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's officials and relatives.
Salazar was pronounced dead at the scene, sheriff's Deputy Lillian Peck said.
His sister, Mary Salazar, recalled him as a kind-hearted, generous man who loved his family.
"He had a loving heart," she said. "He was a giver. He opened up his heart and his home to anybody and everybody who came around him."
Few details were released Sunday about the attack, and Mary Salazar said investigators had given her little information.
Detectives handling the investigation did not return calls for comment.
Neighborhood resident Mario Sainz, 16, said he heard what sounded like several gunshots coming from the direction of the alley overnight.
"After I heard the shots, I heard a car leaving," he said.
Sainz said investigators had blocked off the area until about 9 a.m.
A group of mourners gathered Sunday afternoon at the shooting scene, consoling one another.
They placed candles, beer cans and photos of Ernest Salazar near the area where he was gunned down.
On the wall, the words "R.I.P. Big Veto V.P.V." were written. Relatives said "Veto" was Salazar's nickname.
V.P.V. is a commonly used acronym for a Pico Rivera street gang, Varrio Pico Viejo. But Mary Salazar said her brother was not involved in gangs.
"He was just a family man," she said. "He made friends wherever. "He didn't have much, but he gave whatever he could."
Salazar, who grew up in Pico Rivera, had two sons, 27 and 24, and a 21-year-old daughter. He also had several grandchildren, Mary Salazar said, and was a big sports fan.
"He was a die-hard Raider fan," she said. "He loved the Lakers and he loved the Raiders."
Ernest Salazar's niece, Angel Garcia, said her uncle was deeply devoted to family.
"He loved his family so much," she said. "He was so happy to see or hear you. It made you feel warm inside."
Relatives said Ernest Salazar would be greatly missed.
"We look at pictures and see the good times we had with him," Mary Salazar said. "I just want everyone to remember the good times."

*Photo of Ernest Salazar courtesy of the Salazar family.

EL MONTE -- A bicyclist was shot and killed early Sunday in a residential neighborhood in El Monte, officials and neighbors said.
Coroner's officials were working Sunday to identify the man, who appeared to be Latino and about 20 years old, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.
The shooting occurred about 2:30 a.m. on Lansdale Avenue, just east of Cogswell Road, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Lillian Peck said.
Neighborhood residents Pat and Joe Viramontes said they were awakened to the sound of gunfire.
"It was four straight shots, then three or four seconds (pause), then another one," Joe Viramontes said.
The couple added that they didn't see anything, but heard what sounded like a large or older-model vehicle speeding away afterward.
"It scared the hell out of me," Pat Viramontes said.
Joe Viramontes said when he went out to look at what had happened later, he saw the body lying halfway on the sidewalk and halfway on the street.
"A bicycle was lying down on the ground by his body," he said.
Pat Viramontes added that bicycles are a very common site on Lansdale Avenue.
"There are constantly people -- men and boys -- riding bikes down the street all the time," he said.
A plastic bag full of discarded rubber gloves and other medical equipment, small bits of police crime scene tape and small patches of what appeared to be dry blood remained at the scene Sunday.
The detectives handling the investigation could not be reached for comment Sunday, and no further details were released.

WHITTIER -- Four people were stabbed in a fight at a house party late Saturday, and two of them were arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Carlos Lizama, 20, of Whittier and a 17-year-old Whittier boy were jailed in connection with the incident, Norwalk sheriff's Lt. John Gannon said.
Lizama was hospitalized with stab wounds to his back but was expected to survive, Gannon said. The teenage suspect was treated and brought to Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall in Downey.
Gannon said authorities believe they were injured by people trying to defend the alleged victims.
The incident occurred about 11:30 p.m. as deputies responded to complaints about a party in the 11200 block of Miller Street in an unincorporated county area near Whittier, he said.
"Gang affiliation is unclear at this time," Gannon said, "but it does appear to be gang-related."
The apparent victims were a 20-year-old Whittier man who was stabbed through the heart and a 19-year-old Whittier man who was stabbed in the abdomen, the lieutenant said.
The older man was initially listed in grave condition, but after undergoing surgery, both men were expected to survive, authorities said.
Responding deputies found the two alleged victims outdoors, Gannon said, and were tending to them when the two wounded suspects were pushed out of a passing compact car in front of deputies.
Lizama was being held in a hospital jail ward in lieu of $30,000 bail, Gannon said.
The owner of the home, whose name was not available Sunday, was expected to be cited on suspicion of a misdemeanor charge of throwing a "flyer party" and charging an entry fee.

PASADENA -- A man was shot and wounded late Saturday, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 10:20 p.m. at Orange Grove Boulevard and Sunset Avenue, Pasadena police Lt. Jari Faulkner said.
The wounded man was hospitalized in critical condition, she said.
He was initially described only as a black man and Pasadena resident, Pasadena police Lt. Keith Jones said.
The attackers were described as a group of black men in an older-model car.
After being shot, the wounded man jumped onto the suspects' car and hung on for about half a block before falling off, Jones said.
He was expected to survive after undergoing surgery, he added.
A motive in the shooting was not available Sunday.

HACIENDA HEIGHTS -- Coroner's officials identified a 79-year-old Hacienda Heights woman Sunday who was struck and killed by a car.
Dorothy Knapp died at the scene of the crash, which occurred about 3:20 p.m. Friday on Hacienda Boulevard at Los Altos Drive, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Cheryl MacWillie said.
The preliminary California Highway Patrol investigation indicated the woman was crossing Hacienda Boulevard against a red light in a crosswalk when she was struck by Lexus sedan, authorities said.
The 70-year-old driver, a La Habra Heights woman, was not injured, officials added.
The Lexus was northbound on Hacienda Boulevard, apparently with a green light, when the collision occurred.

POMONA -- A 20-year-old man, a 14-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy were shot and wounded late Friday in Pomona, authorities said.
The incident occurred about 10:25 p.m. in the 1000 block of West 11th Street, Pomona police Officer Jeffrey Hayward said in a written statement.
The suspect was described only as a male Latino, he said. A motive was unclear, but it appeared to have been a gang-related attack.
The teenage girl was listed in serious condition at an area hospital, Hayward said. The man and young boy were expected to survive.
Anyone with information is asked to call WeTip at (800) 782-7463.

FONTANA -- A La Habra man died Saturday in a drag racing mishap at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana.
Ronald Marcum, 53, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, which occurred about 8:30 a.m. at the race track at 9300 Cherry Avenue, California Highway Patrol Officer Jeff Briggs said in a written statement.
Marcum was in the pit area of the race track conducting a "transmission brake test" just prior to the crash, Briggs said.
The test involved revving the engine of his custom-made drag car while keeping the transmission disengaged, the officer said.
"The vehicles transmission suddenly engaged, causing the vehicle to accelerate rapidly," the statement said. "Marcum's vehicle reached estimated speeds in excess of 100 mph in the parking lot before it collided with a parked trailer."
National Hot Rod Association ruled dictate that tests like the one Marcum was conducting must be carried out with the car's wheels raised off the ground, Briggs said.
According to the CHP statement, "Marcum failed to follow these procedures."

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- Authorities say man who killed himself as deputies served an eviction notice at a Northridge home had a history of psychological problems and a house full of guns.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Guillermina Saldana says deputies heard gunshots when they knocked on 54-year-old David Smith's door Friday.
Neighbors were evacuated and a strategic weapons and tactics team was called. When Los Angeles police officers entered the residence, they found Smith dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Smith was alone in the home and no one else was wounded during the incident.

From the Associated Press:

LYNWOOD -- Authorities say deputies shot a man to death when he pointed a gun at them during a struggle for the weapon outside a party in Lynwood.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Aura Sierra says 23-year-old Guillermo Saucedo wrestled with deputies after he pulled out the gun Friday night. Sierra says he dropped the weapon, and then picked it up and pointed it at a deputy.
Saucedo was shot multiple times and died at the scene.
Witnesses say Saucedo had been showing off the gun at the party.

HACIENDA HEIGHTS -- An unidentified elderly woman was struck and killed by a car Friday while crossing the street at a busy Hacienda Heights intersection, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 3:20 p.m. at Hacienda Boulevard and Los Altos Drive, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Todd Woods said.
The dead woman had no identification with her, Minor said, and officials were working Friday afternoon to determine her identity.
The pedestrian, who appeared to be a white woman of about 70 years old, was crossing eastbound across Hacienda Boulevard in a crosswalk when she was struck by a Lexus sedan headed north on Hacienda Boulevard, CHP Capt. Daniel Minor said.
The investigation remained it it's preliminary stages Friday, however, "It looks right now that traffic northbound had a green light," he said.
No citations or arrests were made Friday afternoon.
The driver of the Lexus, a woman estimated to be in her 50s, was not injured, Minor added.
The pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene, Woods said.
The force of the impact cracked the windshield of the car and threw the elderly pedestrian nearly all the way across the intersection.
Traffic in both directions of Hacienda Road was blocked near the scene of the collision during the investigation.

LA PUENTE -- Sheriff's officials jailed the former president of a local high school booster club Friday on suspicion of embezzling about $14,000 from the charity organization, authorities said.
Melinda Rivas, 47, was arrested about 11:30 a.m. at her La Puente home by officials from the Los Angeles County Commercial Crimes Bureau, sheriff's officials said in a written statement.
She was the president of the Basset Olympians Booster Club for the past six or eight years, Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Jorge Valdez said, however the theft allegedly occurred between 2005 and 2008.
"(Rivas) was entrusted with the funds for the booster club in order to pay for things for the booster club," Valdez said.
"She was making payments from a booster club checking account to pay her mortgage, car insurance, and property taxes," the detective said.
He added that she admitted making the payments, and officials are looking into whether more money may have been stolen.
"There's a plethora of financial documents that we're still analyzing," Valdez said.
Bassett High School officials and Board Members of the Bassett Olympians Booster Club could not be reached for comment Friday afternoon.
The Bassett Unified School District Superintendent's Office declined to comment on the arrest Friday.
The Bassett Olympian Booster Club is a non-profit group that supports athletic and charitable activities at Bassett High School, the Sheriff's Department statement said.
According to the organizations Web site, "The Boosters provide uniforms, trophies, equipment, and administrative management to our youth programs."
The mission of the group is, "To enrich the community by supporting its youth; primarily through financial and administrative management of youth sports programs," the Web site states.
According to sheriff's booking records, Rivas is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and is due in El Monte Superior Court for arraignment Tuesday.

From the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES -- A federal judge has overturned the conviction of a Los Angeles man serving a life prison sentence for his mother's death in 1983.
U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled Friday that 44-year-old Bruce Lisker should be retried or set free. She concluded he was convicted on false evidence and that his attorney failed to adequately represent him at trial.
In a phone interview from prison, Lisker says he is elated, but the feeling is bittersweet because he has served more than 24 years in prison.
Two reports by a magistrate judge found in March that faulty evidence was used to convict Lisker in 1985.
A hearing on Monday will determine whether Lisker should be released on bail while prosecutors determine whether to appeal or retry him.

A Florida man blamed his cat for causing him some Internet problems. (h/t Fred Robledo)

POMONA -- One man entered a guilty plea for his role in an El Monte carjacking in which female cab driver's throat was cut, while another suspect in the case began trial on charges of carjacking and attempted murder, officials said Thursday.
David Siguenza, 20, of El Monte entered a guilty plea Tuesday to a count of carjacking, prosecutor Duke Chau said. He is due to be sentenced Sept. 14.
Carlos Ramirez, 26, of El Monte has pleaded not guilty to charges of carjacking and attempted murder.
El Monte police Detective Ralph Batres said the attack left the victim, 28-year-old Clara Reyes of Rosemead "traumatized" and scarred.
"She had been on the job one month," Batres said.
Both men allegedly took part in the Nov. 14, 2008, incident, in which police said Ramirez grabbed the woman from behind and slit her throat in order to steal her taxi.
In Pomona Superior Court Thursday, Siguenza testified through a Spanish interpreter that he was drinking with Ramirez when Ramirez called for a taxi.
After driving a short distance in the taxi from the El Monte home the men shared in the 11700 block of Emery Street, Ramirez attacked, he said.
"He was just holding her by the neck," Siguenza said. "I started yelling two or three times to leave her alone."
"When she noticed I wanted to help her, she said, 'Please help,'" Siguenza testified.
Siguenza said he tried to grab Ramirez's hand just before Reyes was able to get out of the taxi.
"When she stepped out of the taxi, I noticed she had blood," he said, adding that Ramirez was holding a box cutter in his hand.
Siguenza admitted taking $10 from the wounded woman's purse after they fled the scene of the attack at Tyler Avenue and Kauffman Street, but said Ramirez had not told him of any plans to harm the taxi driver or steal the car. The men planned only to go to a friend's house to borrow money, he said, though they had no money to pay for the taxi ride Ramirez called for.
A transcript of an El Monte police interview of Siguenza the day after the incident tells part of the tale.
According to the transcript, Siguenza told investigators he was planning to participate in the killing of the driver and theft of the taxi, however he changed his mind when he saw the driver was a woman and unsuccessfully tried to convince Ramirez to cancel the plan.
Siguenza and Ramirez are both illegal immigrants who worked together at a La Puente car wash at the time of the carjacking and stabbing, Batres said.
The trial will continue Friday.

From Variety:

John Hughes, director of culturally significant films such as "The Breakfast Club," "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," died suddenly today of a heart attack while taking a morning walk during a trip to Manhattan. He was 59.

John Waters (Pink Flamingos, Hairspray) details his relationship with Monrovia prom princess turned Manson Family murderer Leslie Van Houten in a five-part series that's been running this week on Huffington Post.

Helter Skelter

She's coming down fast

Yes she is

Yes she is

coming down fast

Aug. 10, 1969, 3301 Waverly Drive, Los Feliz, Calif. It's well after midnight. There's no moon in the sky.

It's a few short miles from the Monrovia neighborhood she grew up in, but Leslie Van Houten is a long way from home.

Charles Manson, whom Van Houten believes is both Jesus and Satan, has just tied up Rosemary and Leno LaBianca.

Manson believes The Beatles are talking to him. He believes their song depicts an apocalyptic race war between blacks and whites.

He figures that by killing some straights, the war will begin in earnest and when the smoke clears, he'll reign as some sort of messiah. At least that's what he tells his followers.

Addled by LSD and an assortment of reds, bennies, dexies, mescaline, hash, opium, PCP, mushrooms and pot, Van Houten buys into the crap Charlie's been feeding her for months. She wants to please him.

"The more I took it (LSD), the more I couldn't relate to regular kinds of people," Van Houten recalled later.

Now, Van Houten stands inside the master bedroom. There's a pillowcase over Rosemary LaBianca's head. Leslie ties it taut with an electrical cord. She can't stand to hear the woman scream.

Van Houten holds Rosemary down, while accomplice Patricia Krenwinkle stabs the woman.

Leslie calls out for help. Leno's killer, Charles "Tex" Watson enters the bedroom and stabs Rosemary several more times with a bayonet. He hands the weapon to Van Houten and tells her, "Do something."

Van Houten delivers 16 more stab wounds. Then she steals the now dead woman's clothes, wipes the crime scene free of fingerprints and leaves the room.

She passes through the living room. There, Rosemary's husband Leno is already dead. Leno's head is covered with a pillowcase.

He's been stabbed with a two-tined carving fork. The word "WAR" has been sliced into his chest. The fork protrudes from his stomach. There's a knife in his throat.

"DEATH TO PIGS" dripped in blood on one of the walls.

Leslie heads to the kitchen. In Leno's blood, someone misspells "HEALTER SKELTER" on the refrigerator door.

Van Houten grabs some food from the `fridge and hitches a ride back to the Spahn Ranch in Van Nuys where she meets up with Charlie.

It's coming down fast.

By December Van Houten and the rest of Manson's family had been captured.

The county jail was a far cry from Van Houten's Monrovia roots.

Her mother, Jane, a Monrovia school teacher, once told a court that "Les" was a "feisty" girl. She sang in the church choir, was a Camp Fire Girl, took piano lessons, liked camping, and was happy with school.

At Monrovia High School, Van Houten was sophomore class princess at homecoming. She was a cheerleader.

Early in 1968, Leslie "dropped out of the straight world," her mother recalled.

After several trials (one of which resulted in the death penalty), retrials, appeals, a brief bit of freedom in 1978, and failed visits to the parole board. Leslie Van Houten remains incarcerated in the state women's prison in Corona.

The place where Van Houten will likely die is just 32 miles from where she grew up - and a world apart.

An unidentified man was found shot to death early Thursday morning in a green belt near Gingrich Park.

Neighbors reported hearing two shots about 11:15 p.m. Wednesday evening, but no call was made to police until after midnight.

No one in the neighborhood apparently knew the man, described as black and in his 20s.
View Body found in a larger map

DUARTE -- A man was flown to the hospital by helicopter following a 4-car freeway crash Wednesday, authorities said.
The collision occurred shortly before 5:30 p.m. in the westbound lanes of the 210 Freeway, just west of Myrtle Avenue, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Jeffrey Myers said.
A man of about 40 years old had to be freed from his Corvette by firefighters, Myers said.
He was flown to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in stable condition, the captain added.
Both lanes of the 210 Freeway were shut down as the helicopter landed, and lanes of the freeway remained affected by the crash for more than an hour, according to California Highway Patrol logs.
The crash caused one of the involved cars to catch fire, officials said.
No other injuries were reported in the crash, Myers said, however a motorcyclist crashed and suffered a broken arm as traffic slowed down in the aftermath of the collision.
The circumstances and cause of the crash were being investigated by the Baldwin Park office of the California Highway Patrol.

VALINDA -- An attacker stabbed a man Wednesday as he rode a bicycle, authorities said.
The wounded man was flown to the hospital by helicopter, where he was expected to survive, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Hiroshi Yokoyama said.
The incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. at Valinda Avenue and Doublegrove Street, the lieutenant said.
The victim, estimated to be 30, was riding his bicycle when the attacker got out of a black, 4-door vehicle and approached, Yokoyama said.
The assailant then pulled a knife and stabbed the bicyclist in the abdomen, he said.
The armed man was described as a Latino man of about 20 years old, standing 5 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighing about 210 pounds. He wore black pants and a light-colored shirt.
A motive in the attack was not clear, Yokoyama said, and the wounded man did not appear to be fully cooperating with police.

*The stabbing was the ninth violent attack since June 5 in the Valinda, East Valinda or La Puente areas. Officials have said much of the violence stems from disputes between the Bassett Grande, Puente Trece and El Monte Flores street gangs.
The area has seen eight shootings, three of them fatal, since early June.

There's a lot of speculation in the news room this morning about Chief Bill Bratton's sudden announcement.  Is something up? Or is it just time to go?

Only in Barstow:

A man who was fighting with his girlfriend tried to lure her out of a Barstow gas station bathroom by starting a fire outside the door.

The victim, an Adelanto resident, suffered first- and second-degree burns to her ankles when the flames caught the floor of the bathroom on fire.

Damon Alan Spicer, 35, of Apple Valley received a minor burn to his left arm when the flames ignited his nylon shirt, San Bernardino County sheriff's officials said.

The incident occurred about 4 a.m. Friday at a Shell gas station off the 15 Freeway at Cima Road. The couple was arguing while driving on the freeway, got off the freeway and stopped at the station.

The victim was afraid of Spicer, so she locked herself in the restroom inside the convenience store. Spicer tried to get her out of the bathroom for about 45 minutes.

He then used a flammable substance to start a fire at the base of the door. The store clerk dialed 9-1-1.

Sheriff's deputies arrested Spicer on suspicion of arson and torture. He also had two arrest warrants issued in Riverside County.

Paramedics treated the victim at the scene.

http://lang.sgvtribune.com/multimedia/asps/dump1.asp

Former President Bill Clinton is aboard a plane with two journalists freed after a harrowing experience in North Korean custody. Here's the Boston Globe story:

LONDON (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong-il has granted a "special pardon" to two jailed U.S. journalists which releases them from detention, the official KCNA news agency reported on Tuesday.

WHITTIER - A woman who was beaten, had her throat slit and was left for dead this morning survived her harrowing ordeal.
View Woman dumped in a larger map

Friday morning August 8, 1969.

The sun is fully visible at 6:10 a.m.

At 7:50 a.m. Steven Earl Parent, 18, leaves his parents' El Monte home on Bryant Road for work at Valley City Plumbing in Rosemead.

A recent graduate of Arroyo High School, Parent works two jobs. He plans on attending Citrus College in the fall semester.

Parent's co-workers say he is "clean-cut" and "intelligent." "A good worker."

He splits work at 5:15 p.m. and heads to the second job, at Jonas Miller Stereo on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.

At 7:48 p.m. sunset envelopes Southern California.

Sometime after 11 p.m., Parent gets off work. He's driving his dad's 1966 AMC Rambler.

Parent heads up Beverly to Sunset, then jogs north again on Benedict Canyon Road.

A waning crescent moon barely lights the night sky. Oleanders and scrub oak line the unlit road. He turns again on Cielo Drive.

At 11:45 p.m., Parent demonstrates an AM/FM Sony Digimatic clock radio. He hopes to sell it to Bill Garretson, his 19-year-old friend.

The two met several weeks earlier, when Parent picked up Garretson hitchhiking and drove him home.

Garretson lives in the back house at the estate on Cielo Drive. He takes care of the owner's dogs.

Garretson declines to buy the radio. Parent drinks a can of beer. He calls a friend.

It's now Saturday morning August 9 - 12:15 a.m. Parent leaves.

In the dark, he walks back to his dad's white Rambler. He starts his car and heads toward the gate.

He rolls down the window to use a push button gate opener.

A figure approaches.

"Halt," a man calls out. The man's got a buck knife in one hand and a .22 in the other.

Parent pleads with the man, "Please don't hurt me. I won't tell anyone."

The man slashes at Parent with the knife, slicing the teen's wrist. Then, he opens fire with the revolver. Shots strike the El Monte teen in the head and chest. By 12:30 a.m. Parent is dead.

He would become the first victim in a two-night killing frenzy led by Charles Manson and carried out by members of his LSD-crazed "family."

Within minutes, Parent's murderer, Charles "Tex" Watson, and three women would enter the main house at Cielo Drive and kill actress Sharon Tate, coffee heiress Abigail Folger, film producer Wojciech Frykowski and hair dresser Jay Sebring.

In hopes of inciting a race war that Manson called "Helter Skelter," the killers struck the next night at the Los Feliz home of and Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.

Parent's body was discovered about 24 hours after he left his parent's El Monte home for work. His mom and dad were disturbed that LAPD officials didn't notify them of their son's death for several hours.

His dad wondered what Steven was up to.

"I just can't understand what he was doing up there in the first place," Wilfred Parent said. "Hell, Steve wasn't a poshy kind of kid. I didn't even know he knew any of those people."

This from the San Francisco Chronicle (thanks to a NorCal Crime Scene reader)

A suspect in the slaying of the leader of the San Francisco Hells Angels chapter is now facing federal murder and weapons charges, court records show.

Christopher Ablett, 36, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in San Francisco to charges of murder in aid of racketeering and two gun-possession charges in the September slaying of Mark "Papa" Guardado, the head of the Hells Angels' "Frisco" chapter.

Authorities believe Ablett shot Guardado, 46, after what police describe as a "wrestling match" outside a Mission District bar the night of Sept. 2. Witnesses told police that the killer rode away on a motorcycle; police later searched the home in Modesto where Ablett lived with his parents and his two children and seized a 2005 Harley-Davidson.

Police say Ablett is a member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, a rival group to the Hells Angels.

Ablett killed Guardado "for the purpose of gaining entrance to and maintaining and increasing his position in the Mongols, an enterprise engaged in racketeering," according to an indictment handed down July 23 by a federal grand jury in San Francisco and unsealed Wednesday.

From the Detroit News:

According to a criminal complaint, (Leon Desmond Barrett, 37,) sent about 14 threatening letters to the NFL Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell between 2006 and April. 

Some of the letters referred to an alleged dispute between Barrett and Bettis and his family. "We do not want to have a gunfight with them but if we have to, we will," said one of the hand-written letters.

"I guess it (sic) going to be another Virginia Tech. massacre all over again in Detroit." A letter dated Aug. 18, 2007, said: "I'm getting ready to start killing some more people. Beyonce, Jay-Z, Jerome Bettis and Tune-up Man are the first 4 people I'm getting ready to kill."

Similar letters were sent in 2009 to former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, care of the Hall of Fame, and former University of Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz, the complaint said.

Most of the letters bore Barrett's signature and home address, the complaint alleges.

From Fox News: 

Jack Connerton, 50, was angry over children cutting through his parking lot on skateboards, according to authorities.

He was arrested on the felony count Saturday after he allegedly pointed a gun, took the girl's skateboard and snapped photos of four children, The Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

The girl's mother, Misty Bragg, said neighborhood children have to pass Connerton's Towerview Sports Pub in Cincinnati to get to a recreation center and park.

The LAPD and Riverside County Sheriff's Department Monday night rescued a man who had been kidnapped earlier in Van Nuys. Here's the top of our story:

The LAPD has set up a command post at the 15 Freeway and Limonite Avenue in Ontario. The post, essentially a BevMo parking lot will be used for media briefings.

Earlier this afternoon, a convoy including the LAPD Bomb Squad and several blacked out SUVs was spotted travelling at a high rate of speed east on the 10 Freeway toward Ontario.

In two unrelated incidents, Pasadena police reported an injury hit-and-run crash and a robbery late Saturday.

PASADENA -- Police asked the public's help Sunday in finding a hit-and-run driver who injured a man on a motor scooter.
The crash was reported about 9:15 p.m. Saturday at Los Robles Avenue at Orange Grove Boulevard, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said.
Witnesses reported hearing an impact, then seeing a man in his 30s on the floor and a brown or blue pickup truck with a black camper shell driving away from the area, Ibarra said.
The man suffered a broken jaw, a broken hip and several facial fractures, the lieutenant said.
Any witnesses to the crash or anyone with information on the hit-and-run driver is asked to call the Pasadena Police Department.

PASADENA -- A woman used a handgun to rob a gas station Saturday, authorities said.
The crime occurred about 11:25 p.m. at a gas station in the 100 block of East Glenarm Street, Pasadena police Lt. Tracey Ibarra said.
The robber was described as a black woman in her 30s, about 6 feet tall and weighing 250 pounds, wearing a black shirt and brown pants, the lieutenant said.
After demanding cash from the register, she was last seen running northbound from the gas station, Ibarra said.

INDUSTRY -- Sheriff's officials arrested one man and cited four others after they broke up the start of an apparent cockfight Saturday.
Mauro Jara, 38, of Fontana, who was suspected of organizing the cockfight, was booked on suspicion of felony burglary and misdemeanor animal cruelty, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Hiroshi Yokoyama said.
Four other people were given citations for misdemeanor cruelty to animals, the lieutenant said.
An anonymous tipster called authorities shortly before 9:40 p.m. to report a cockfight beginning inside an unoccupied industrial building in the 21400 block of Ferrero Parkway, Yokoyama said.
Deputies found about 40 people and 44 roosters inside the building, he said.
The roughly 35 people who were not cited or arrested were briefly detained and released, Yokoyama said.
Animal control officials took custody of the roosters.
According to booking records, Jara is being held in lieu of $20,000 bail and is due for arraignment at West Covina Superior Court Tuesday.

It's been a wild weekend so far in the San Gabriel Valley to say the least. Here's some highlights:

* Sheriff's deputies shot and killed a meat cleaver-wielding burglary suspect in Rosemead late Saturday.

* Sheriff's deputies shot, but did not injur, a suspect who allegedly rammed a patrol car with another vehicle Saturday in Monterey Park.

* A 13-year-old girl was allegedly abuucted by her uncle in Whittier late Friday, and was found by officials late Saturday in San Dimas.

* A man was arrested Friday in connection with an ambush on two Azusa police officers.

* A man and woman escaped to brushes with death in Rosemead Friday after they were ejected from their car, then one of them was grazed by a commuter train.

 

AZUSA -- A man was behind bars Saturday on suspicion of ambushing two police officers with a handgun, authorities said.
Miguel Angel Gonzalez, 19, of Azusa was booked on suspicion of attempted murder shortly after the incident, Azusa police said in a written.
The shooting occurred just before 11 p.m. in the 600 block of N. Rockvale Avenue, police said.
The officers were not struck by the volley, but their car was, Azusa police Lt. Mike Bertelsen said.
Additionally, a stray bullet passed through the window of a nearby home where a woman and child were sleeping, he said.
"We're pretty fortunate that no officers or civilians were injured," Bertelsen said.
In response to increasing violence among area taggers, the officers were conducting a tagger and gang member enforcement operation in an unmarked police car, officials said.
The officers spotted a car driving erratically that was known to belong to a local tagger, Bertelsen said.
As they waited for backup to arrive before stopping the car, a shooter on foot opened fire on their car, police said.
Police set up a search perimeter and found Gonzalez hiding in the carport of a nearby apartment complex, Bertelsen said.
The lieutenant declined to say whether the suspect was a member of a tagging crew, or whether a weapon was recovered.
According to booking records, Gonzalez is being held in lieu of $1 million bail and is due for arraignment in West Covina Superior Court Tuesday.
Police believe additional suspects may have been involved and asked anyone with information to call the Azusa Police Department.

This comes from reporter Tania Chatila:

MONTEREY PARK -- A man was arrested early Saturday after he rammed a sheriff's deputy's car, prompting the deputy to shoot, officials said.
No one was injured in the deputy-involved shooting, which occurred about 12:40 a.m. near Findlay Avenue and Riggin Street, Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Byron Ward said in a written statement.
The unnamed deputy and his K-9 dog happened to be patrolling in that area when the deputy heard a loud crash, and saw a black Cadillac speeding away after hitting a parked car, said Lt. Mike Grimaldi, of the sheriff's Internal Affairs Bureau, which is investigating the incident.
The deputy initially tried to follow the car, Grimaldi said, but the suspect raced out of sight.
A few moments later, the suspect drove back to the area, and the deputy was able to stop him by using his lights and siren.
As the deputy was trying to get out of his car, Grimaldi said the suspect rammed the sheriff's vehicle, causing damage to the front bumper.
"After, the (suspect) didn't go anywhere, so the deputy started to get out of the car again when he saw the (back tail) lights go on," Grimaldi said. "The car started to back up again, so the (deputy) fired at the driver in the car."
Grimaldi said the deputy fired six rounds before the suspect sped off a second time, at which point the deputy began calling for help.
Minutes later, the suspect came back again, and was westbound on Riggin Street when he crashed into a fire hydrant near Findlay Avenue, Grimaldi said.
"The airbags deployed and the car was hung up on the fire hydrant," Grimaldi said, adding that the suspect was arrested without further incident.
Grimaldi said the entire incident lasted less than 10 minutes, with the suspect driving back and forth in the area at speeds of about 80 miles per hour.
It was unknown if drugs or alcohol may have been a factor.
"I don't know at this point," Grimaldi said. "I was told he appeared to be drinking, but I can't verify that."