10 suspected of exploiting gift card glitch

GLENDORA — Ten dishonest shoppers who tried to take advantage of a glitch involving gift cards cards Wednesday were arrested on suspicion of commercial burglary, police said.
The eight women and two men from throughout Southern California were arrested at the Glendora Walmart store, Glendora police Detective Shelly Schaiterer said. There names were not immediately available, official said.
A glitch caused $25 gift cards sold in Southern California to allow charges far beyond their value, the detective said.
“(The suspects) were buying high-dollar items, as well as miscellaneous things,” she said.
Schaiterer declined to name the gift card company involved until she could be certain the glitch had been fixed.
Though the gift cards are accepted at many retailers, all of Glendora’s known incidents occurred at Walmart, she said.
Wednesday’s arrests took place throughout the day, officials said.
Those arrested Wednesday were booked on suspicion of commercial burglary, Schaiterer said, and in at least eight of the cases, grand theft.
It was not clear Wednesday how widespread the gift card glitch was.

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Woman flees from deputies in Arcadia

ARCADIA — A woman escaped Wednesday after fleeing sheriff’s deputies during a traffic stop, authorities said.
The incident began just before noon in the area of Baldwin and Naomi avenues, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Tom McNeal said.
Deputies pulled over a dark green Honda Civic with a license plate number of 5CBF181 because the driver, described only as a woman, appeared to be swerving, McNeal said.
After running the license plate number, officials found the license plate had been reported “lost or stolen,” the lieutenant said. Such plates on a car often indicate the vehicle is stolen.
After initially pulling over, the woman accelerated away from deputies and a brief chase began, McNeal said.
After pursuing the Honda southbound on Baldwin Avenue for just over a minute and a half, he said, officials ordered an end to the chase out of concern for public safety.
In addition to the female driver, two male passengers were also inside the car, McNeal said.

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Maywood disbands PD; will layoff 100 employees — LASO and Bell take over

From the Los Angeles Times:

The city of Maywood will lay off all city employees and begin contracting police services with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department effective July 1, officials said.

In addition to contracting with the Sheriff’s Department, the Maywood City Council voted unanimously Monday night to lay off an estimated 100 employees and contract with neighboring Bell, which will handle other city services such as finance, records management, parks and recreation, street maintenance and others. Maywood will be billed about $50,833 monthly, which officials said will save $164,375 annually.

“We will become 100% a contracted city,” said Angela Spaccia, Maywood’s interim city manager.

Deputies from the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station will begin patrolling the 1.2-square-mile city by the end of the month, said Capt. Bruce Fogarty of the Sheriff’s Contract Law Enforcement Bureau. The annual cost of providing those services for the small city is estimated at $3.6 million, Fogarty said.

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Los Angeles man dies in Glendora freeway crash

GLENDORA — A man died early Saturday in a two-car crash on the 210 Freeway in Glendora, authorities said.
Miguel Montes, 66, of Los Angeles was pronounced dead at the scene, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Kurt Stormes said in a written statement.
The crash was reported at 12:53 a.m. on the westbound 210 Freeway, just west of Grand Avenue, the sergeant said.
Traffic was moving slowly on the freeway because right two lanes had been shut down for Caltrans work, officials said.
Montes was driving a 1995 Buick at about 5 mph in the fast lane, as a 17-year-old Monrovia boy in a 1995 Honda was approaching from behind in the carpool lane at about 45 mph, Stormes said.
The Buick made an unsafe lane change into the carpool lane, he said, and was rear-ended by the Honda.
The teenage driver of the Honda was treated for minor injuries, officials added.
Montes suffered major head trauma and succumbed to his injuries, Stormes said.

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Car-to-car shooting in Norwalk leaves two wounded

NORWALK — A man and woman were wounded Saturday in a car-to-car shooting in Norwalk, officials said.
The attack was reported about 12:30 p.m. in the 13000 block of Shoemaker Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Wilkins said.
A woman in her 20s and a man in his 50s suffered minor wounds in the attack, Wilkins said.
The woman was a passenger inside an SUV that was believed to be the intended target of the shooting, he said.
The male victim was walking along the street when he was shot, he added. “It appears that he was probably an innocent bystander.”
The attackers were described only as four male Latinos in a gray Toyota Tundra pickup truck, Wilkins said.
A motive was not immediately clear, Wilkins said, and the shooting remained under investigation.

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Whittier man dies in solo-car crash on 605 Freeway

INDUSTRY — A solo-car crash on the 605 Freeway in Industry Saturday left a 30-year-old Whittier man dead, authorities said.
Jose Luis Linares-Campa died in the 2:17 a.m. crash on the southbound 605 Freeway, just north of Peck Road, California Highway Patrol and coroner’s officials said.
He was driving a 2003 Focus when, for reasons that remained under investigation, his car veered to the right and struck a guardrail and light pole, according to the CHP.
Linares-Campa was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.
The crash remained under investigation, and any witnesses are asked to call CHP Officer P. Coffey at 562-868-0503.

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Youth counselor killed during Baldwin Park police chase

BALDWIN PARK — Coroner’s officials released the name of a child counselor who died Friday when his car was struck by an SUV being driven by a man who was allegedly fleeing police.
Walter Bernard Williams, 37, of Carson died at the scene of the crash shortly after 9:35 p.m. at Ramona Boulevard and Francisquito Avenue, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s Lt. Brian Elias said.
Luis Miguel Noriega, 28, of Temple City was arrested on suspicion of murder, evading police and grand theft auto, Baldwin Park police Lt. David Reynoso said.
The crash occurred outside Eggleston Youth Homes and Foster Care, where co-workers said the man worked as a youth counselor.
Co-workers added that he was on his way to pick up his paycheck when the crash occurred.

Here’s the original story from reporter Maritza Velazquez.

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Solo-truck crash reported in Irwindale

IRWINDALE — A man was hospitalized with serious injuries Friday after crashing his pickup truck into a telephone pole, police said.
The crash occurred about 4:30 p.m. at Foothill Boulevard and Irwindale Avenue, Irwindale police Cpl. Armando Lopez said.
A 31-year-old Hesperia man suffered broken bones, head injuries and possible internal injuries, the corporal said. He was flown to a trauma center by helicopter un unknown condition.
He was driving his pickup truck west on Foothill Boulevard when he tried to make a left turn onto Irwindale Avenue and lost control, Lopez said.
The truck struck a telephone pole, nearly wrapping around it, he said. There were no signs of skid marks in the street.
The driver was unable to remember the crash, Lopez said.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation, Lopez said, however there were no initial indications of anything criminal.

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Duarte elementary school teacher held on child sex charges

Can’t find him on megan’s law registry, but looks like he was arrested in April and then again this week. Not sure if he was teaching between then and now.

This from KCBS/KCAL:

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Duarte elementary school teacher faces charges of sexually abusing seven female students over more than a decade.

Wade Bughman, 41, is a sixth-grade teacher at Beardslee Elementary School. Bughman was charged last week in a felony complaint for an arrest warrant, according to the District Attorney’s Office. He is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon in Pasadena, where prosecutors will recommend that bail be set at $2.1 million.

Bughman was arrested Thursday morning.

Bughman was charged with four counts each of continuous sexual abuse and lewd act upon a child, along with one count each of oral copulation of a person under 14, forcible rape and sexual penetration using a foreign object. The alleged abuse took place between August 1997 and April of this year.

According to prosecutors, all of the victims were under age 14 at the time, and the youngest was a second-grader. All were students at Beardslee Elementary, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

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Rioters attack taco truck after Lakers win NBA Championship

Metblogs has put together a by-the-numbers look at the post-game riot/celebration downtown last night.

Among the stats, the attack of a taco truck. Here’s more:

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Number of rubbish fires: 15

Number of vehicle fires: 3

Number of shopping cart fires: At least 1.

Number of fatalities: 0

Number of people “beaten unconscious”: At least 1. Think it was a Celtics fan, the poor guy.

Number of arrests: 38

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