Police seek missing autistic Montebello man

36760-KELTY-thumb-300x350-36759.jpgMONTEBELLO — Authorities are asking the public’s help in finding an autistic Montebello man who went missing more than a week ago.
David Allen Kelty, 44, was last seen by his caretaker on Jan. 13, Montebello police said in a written statement.
He suffers from autism, though he is able to care for himself, police said. He also requires daily medication for a blood-clotting condition.
“He frequents the Montebello Bus Lines and is known to travel throughout Southern California,” according to the police statement.
Foul play is not suspected, police added.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Montebello Police Department.

PHOTO of David Kelty courtesy of the Montebello Police Department.

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La Canada attorney charged in kiddie porn case

From Sandi Gibbons in the District Attorney’s Office:

LOS ANGELES – An attorney investigated as part of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) probe of hardcore child pornography on the Internet pleaded no contest today to one felony count each of possessing child pornography and an assault rifle.

Deputy District Attorney Susan Schwartz of the Justice System Integrity Division said Walter Loustari, who remains free on bail, entered the plea before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Ryan. Sentencing was scheduled for March 3.

Schwartz said the 58-year-old defendant entered an “open” plea, meaning it was not part of a negotiated settlement. His sentence could range anywhere from probation to three years and eight months in state prison.

Loustari, who had a law office in La Canada and lived in Glendale, was charged in October 2009 following an investigation by ICE and the Glendale Police Department.

Authorities said the investigation began in October 2006 as part of ICE’s Operation Predator, in which the agency works closely with local agencies to investigate child pornography throughout the United States.

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Gang members appear in court in alleged Duarte hate crime attack

Two Latino gang members accused of shooting a black man and trying to run him over with a car in an alleged hate crime in Duarte last month appeared in court Friday, authorities said.

Ali Vasquez, 22, Mario Luevano, 18, and a 17-year-old boy whose name was not released due to his age are suspected of shouting racial slurs as they carried out the crime, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Carlos Lopez said in a written statement. All three are members of the Duarte Eastside street gang.

The adult suspects appeared in Los Angeles County Superior Court Friday to be arraigned on three counts of attempted murder Friday, court officials said, however the hearing was delayed until Feb. 19 and the suspects did not enter pleas.

The alleged attack took place about 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 31 at Highland and Central avenues, officials said.

“Suspects Vasquez, Luevano and a male juvenile shot a male black adult twice in the upper torso with a shotgun and handgun,” according to the sheriff’s statement. “The suspects then attempted to run the victim over with their vehicle, which was was later determined the suspects had stolen.”

The wounded man is an Altadena resident in his late 40s who was visiting a friend in Duarte when he was shot, officials said. The suspects passed by him in an allegedly stolen car before getting out to confront him.

Deputies arrested Luevano Jan. 5 on an unrelated charge of possession of a controlled substance while armed with a loaded firearm, officials said.

The alleged victim cooperated with authorities duing the lenghty investigation, officials said.

Vasquez and the juvenile were arrested on Jan. 8 and 20, respectively, while deputies carried out search warrants at their homes.

Vasquez and the juvenile are Duarte residents, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Glatt said. Luevano’s city of residency was not available Friday.

According to sheriff’s booking records, Vasquez was being held without bail, while Luevano was being held in lieu of $2.18 million bail.

The shooting took place only weeks after a judge enacted a gang injunction in Monrovia against two waring gangs, the Du Roc Crips and Monrovia Nuevo Varrio.

Monrovia officials complained that Duarte did not join in the injunction, which may have allowed it to include Duarte Eastside.

Duarte officials have said they fear Monrovia’s injunction against the Du Roc Crips and MNV could strengthen Duarte Eastside.

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Blind El Monte man accidentally shot brother to death, officials say

EL MONTE — The fatal shooting of an El Monte man by his blind brother last week was not a murder, but rather a tragic accident, a homicide detective said Friday.
Erik Diaz, 19, was fatally shot about 1 a.m. on Jan. 16 in the apartment where he lived with his brother in the 4100 block of Rowland Avenue, sheriff’s and police officials said.
His brother, Alex Diaz, 24, who is completely blind, was initially arrested following the shooting but was released Thursday, Detective Q. Rodriguez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
“We don’t believe it was an intentional shooting,” said the detective, who described the incident as a “very unfortunate accident.”
The brothers had a good relationship, and there was no argument prior to the shooting, he said.
Alex Diaz was devastated when detectives told him his brother had died, Rodriguez said. “He took it extremely hard.”
The gun belonged to Alex Diaz, Rodriguez said, who told investigators he had it for protection from local gang members. He was not believed to be involved in gangs himself.
Officials were still investigating where got the gun.
The shooting took placed as the brothers were in the living room of their apartment, Rodriguez said.
“The gun was pulled out,” he said. The men were examining it when, “somehow it went off.”
Alex Diaz was holding the weapon when it fired, the detective added. The handgun was found at the scene.
Erik Diaz was taken to a local hospital, where he died about about 19 hours after the shooting, El Monte police Lt, Michelle States said shortly after the incident.
An official cause of death had not been determined for Erik Diaz Friday, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.
Though Alex Diaz is not expected to be charged with murder, Rodriguez said, the District Attorney’s Office may later decide to file other charges related to the incident against him.

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So far, so good; foothills continue to hold through fourth storm

At a press conference held at Fire Camp 2 in La Canada Flintridge Thursday at 5:30 p.m., officials expressed relief that the foothill communities such as La Canada Flintridge, La Crescenta, Altadena and Sierra Madre had not suffered any major damage as of yet due to rain.

Nonetheless, officials cautioned that the danger posed by the fire-denuded and now soaked hillsides north of foothill comunities has not passed.

Patchy thunderstorms were expected to continue overnight over hillsides that are already saturated with water.

Even after the storm subsides and the sun comes up, mudslides and debris flows will be on “ongoing concern,” Los Angeles County Department of Public Works Director Gail Farber said. She declined to estimate how long the threat of mudslides would loom over the recent burn areas of the Station Fire.

Though mandatory evacuations were lifted Thursday throughout Sierra Madre, all other evacuations, including those in La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta, remained in effect.

Those asked to evacuate there homes will have to wait at least one more night to find out when it’s safe to return, Farber added.

“We want to bring people home just as quickly as possible,” she said. “However, we are not prepared to make a decision this evening.”

County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said he hoped officials would be able to give residence information Friday morning on when they may be able to return home.

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Man wounded in Montebello shooting

MONTEBELLO – A young man was shot and dropped off at a local hospital Wednesday, police said.
The man was shot at about 7:38 p.m. in the 100 block of W. Madison Avenue and then dropped off at Beverly Hospital by an unknown person, Montebello police Sgt. Ismael Navarro said.
The man, who was in his late teens, was expected to survive, the sergeant said.
Further details of the shooting were not immediately available, and detectives continued interviewing witnesses Thursday, Ismael said.
A motive in the attack remained under investigation, he said, though it initially appeared related to gangs or tagging.

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State of Emergency

From the Gov’s press office:

Acting Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today proclaimed a state of emergency in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Francisco and Siskiyou counties due to a series of winter storms that have brought high winds and significant amounts of precipitation statewide, and have caused the loss of human life, injuries, flooding, heavy snows and mudslides throughout the state. The effects of these storms are expected to continue for the next several days. 
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Former Vernon mayor gets probation, fine in corruption probe

This from the DA’s Office:

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LOS ANGELES – The man who served as Vernon’s mayor for more than a half-century and his wife were sentenced today to probation and ordered to pay more than $600,000 in fines and penalties following their conviction last month for voter fraud and other charges.

Leonis Malburg, 80, was barred from holding any elective office and placed on five years probation and by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson. The judge found the couple guilty Dec. 4 following a court trial. Malburg’s 83-year-old wife, Dominica, was placed on three years probation, said Deputy District Attorneys Max Huntsman and Jonlyn Callahan, who prosecuted the case.

Malburg was ordered to pay a total of $183,800 in fines and penalty assessments and more than $395,000 in restitution to the City of Vernon for salary, benefits and travel for the time he was elected in April 11, 2006. His wife was ordered to pay $36,000 in fines and penalties.

“We’re pleased with the sentence,” Huntsman said. “We hope politicians get the message” that they must live in the district where they’ve been elected to represent and where they are registered to vote.

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West Covina woman among those arrested at border on drug charges

This from Borderfire:

San Diego – U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at ports of entry along the California/ Mexico border seized almost 2,900 pounds of narcotics valued at $2.2 million, captured 13 fugitives, and stopped the illegal entry of 417 persons over the busy holiday weekend.

From 6 a.m. on Friday through 6 a.m. on Tuesday, CBP officers at the six land ports of entry intercepted 16 smuggling attempts involving marijuana and methamphetamine. The drugs were hidden in various areas of the vehicles such as in the gas tank, in the bumpers and the spare tire.

The largest seizure occurred at the San Ysidro border station on Sunday at about 1:30 p.m. after a detector dog alerted to a the back wall of a motor-home pulled by a Ford F-350 pickup as it and the two female occupants waited in line to be inspected. The women and conveyance were escorted into the secondary area for a more intensive examination.

Officers subsequently discovered 78 wrapped packages of marijuana in the rear wall of the motor home weighing 1,764 pounds, valued at more than $1 million.

Both the driver, a 34-year-old U.S. citizen from Big Bear, Calif., and her passenger, a 46-year-old U.S. citizen from West Covina, Calif., were turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and transported to the Metropolitan Correctional Center. CBP seized the narcotics and conveyance.

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Suspected serial bank robber jailed

Authorities captured a serial bank robbery suspect known as the “Bomb and Gun Bandit” in Pasadena Tuesday after he allegedly robbed an Alhambra bank.
Eric Parris, 45, will likely face federal charges in connection with a string of bank robberies, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said.

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He is suspected in at least seven robberies in Alhambra, Pasadena, Burbank and Los Angeles, according to Alhambra police and FBI officials. He earned his nickname by allegedly carrying a briefcase during the robberies and claiming to have a bomb and gun inside.
Alhambra police responded to a report of a bank robbery about 1:15 p.m. at Citibank, 1 West Bay State Street, Sgt. Brandon Black said in a written statement.
Clutching his trademark briefcase, “(The robber) placed a demand note on the counter, which indicated that the suspect was robbing the bank and that he had a gun and bomb in the briefcase,” Black said. He then fled with an undisclosed amount of cash.
Earlier Tuesday, San Marino police received a report of a suspicious person possibly casing a San Marino bank, the sergeant said. In that case, a bank employee was able to give police a license plate number.
San Marino police officers found and stopped the suspicious vehicle from their city at Fair Oaks and Del Mar avenues in Pasadena about 30 after the Alhambra robbery, Black said.
The driver was identified as a suspect in the Alhambra robbery and arrested, Black said. Officials then determined he was also wanted in connection with the other crimes.
Officials from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Bomb Squad checked out the suspect’s briefcase and determined it contained neither a bomb nor a gun, Alhambra police Lt. Cliff Mar said.
According to an FBI bulletin, other crimes the “Bomb and Gun Bandit” is suspected in include robberies at a Pasadena Chase bank branch, 860 E. Colorado Blvd., on Jan. 12 of this year and May 15 of 2009, as well as two bank robberies in Burbank and two in Los Angeles last year.
According to sheriff’s booking records, Parris was being held in federal custody and was scheduled to appear in Alhambra Superior Court on Thursday.

ABOVE: Surveillance photo of the “Bomb and Gun Bandit” comes courtesy of the FBI.

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