Stabbing reported at Arcadia shopping mall

ARCADIA — A young man was stabbed Friday when a fight broke out between two groups at the Westfield Santa Anita Shopping Mall, authorities said.
One man was arrested in connection with the stabbing, however his identity was being withheld pending further investigation, Arcadia police Sgt. Dan Crowther said in a written statement.
An 18-year-old man was walking in the mall with another man and woman about 5:45 p.m. when the group became involved in an argument with a group of five to seven young Asian men and one Asian woman, police said.
“A verbal altercation between the two groups led to a physical fight between several of the males,” Crowther said. “During the fight, it appears that the victim was stabbed.”
The 18-year-old man suffered a stab wound to his abdomen and a cut to his chin, police said. The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Officers arrested a man in connection with the attack, and witnesses identified him as being involved, Crowther said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Arcadia police detectives at 626-574-5160.
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Montebello man accused of head-butting security guard during shoe robbery

MONTEBELLO — Police arrested a man Friday on suspicion of head-butting a security guard while trying to steal shoes from a shoe store, authorities said.
The crime was reported just before 3:40 p.m. a Warehouse Shoe Sale, 1200 W. Beverly Blvd., Montebello police Lt. Andy Vuncanon said.
The suspect, a man in his early 20s, was expected to be booked on suspicion of robbery and making terrorist threats, the lieutenant said.
His name was not available late Friday pending booking, he added.
The suspect entered the store, took off his shoes and put on a new pair from the store, Vuncanon said.
“Then he attempted to exit the store and was stopped by security,” he said. “The subject head-butted one of the security officers.”
He also threatened to harm the security guards by stabbing them with a pen, Vuncanon added.
The security guards were not injured, police said.
Officers arrived to find the suspect being detained by store security and arrested him, Vuncanon said.

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Officials uncover massive drug tunnel connecting San Diego, Tijuana

From the Associated Press:

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SAN DIEGO — A sophisticated cross-border tunnel equipped with a rail system, ventilation and fluorescent lighting has been shut down by U.S. and Mexican officials — the second discovery of a major underground drug passage in San Diego this month, authorities said Friday.
The tunnel found Thursday is 2,200 feet long — more than seven football fields — and runs from the kitchen of a home in Tijuana, Mexico, to two warehouses in San Diego’s Otay Mesa industrial district, said Mike Unzueta, head of investigations at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego.
In Mexico, the tunnel’s cinderblock-lined entry dropped 80 to 90 feet to a wood-lined floor, Unzueta said. From the U.S. side, there was a stairway leading to a room about 50 feet underground that was full of marijuana.
“It’s a lot like how the ancient Egyptians buried the kings and queens,” Unzueta said.
Authorities seized more than 20 tons of marijuana.
Unzueta said the tunnel discovered Thursday and another found in early November are believed to be the work of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, headed by that country’s most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
“We think ultimately they are controlled by the same overall cartel but that the tunnels were being managed and run independently by different cells operating within the same organization,” Unzueta said.
The passage found Thursday is one of the most advanced to date, with an entry shaft in Mexico lined with cinderblocks and a rail system for drugs to be carried on a small cart, Unzueta said.
Three men were arrested in the United States, and the Mexican military raided a ranch in Mexico and made five arrests in connection with the tunnel, authorities said.
U.S. authorities have discovered more than 125 clandestine tunnels along the Mexican border since the early 1990s, though many were crude and incomplete.
U.S. authorities do not know how long the latest tunnel was operating. Unzueta said investigators began to look into several warehouses in June on a tip that emerged from a large bust of marijuana, cocaine and methamphetamine by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

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U.S. authorities followed a trailer from one of the warehouses to a Border Patrol checkpoint in Temecula, where they seized 27,600 pounds of marijuana. The driver, whose name was not released, was arrested, along with two others who went to a residence in suburban El Cajon that had $13,500 cash inside.
“That (trailer) was literally filled top to bottom, front to back,” Unzueta said. “There wasn’t any room for anything else in that tractor-trailer but air.”
Three tons of marijuana were found in a “subterranean room” and elsewhere in the tunnel on the U.S. side, authorities said.
Mexican officials seized four tons of pot at a ranch in northern Mexico, bringing the total haul to more than 20 tons.
The discovery of the cross-border tunnel earlier this month marked one of the largest marijuana seizures in the United States, with agents confiscating 20 tons of marijuana they said was smuggled through the underground passage. One of the warehouses involved in the tunnel discovered Thursday is only a half-block away.
Several sophisticated tunnels have ended in San Diego warehouses. ICE began meeting with landowners last month to warn them about leasing space to tunnel builders.
“These owners of warehouses, they need to know their customers, they need to know who’s in there leasing these things,” Unzueta said.

PHOTOS: Investigators crawl through the recently discovered drug-smuggling tunnel and guard of marijuana seized during the operation. (Courtesy of ICE)

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“Zombies” plan to disrupt Pasadena shoppers

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PASADENA — A group of activists dressed as zombies plan to invade One Colorado this morning as part of an international protest against consumerism.

The group, organized by a woman identified as Autumn Rooney, has plans to chant, dance and play drums along Colorado Boulevard, according to several websites and Twitter accounts.

“We are a network of activists organizing a Carnivalesque Rebellion that will shut down consumer capitalism for a week.
The climax of our efforts is Buy Nothing Day, a 24-hour moratorium on consumer spending, celebrated November 26th in North America and 27th Internationally. 

Here’s a copy of an action plan posted on the Internet.

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One fatality reported as CHP continues holiday crackdown

LOS ANGELES COUNTY — One person died in a traffic crash in Los Angeles County during the first 12 hours of the holiday weekend — the same number reported over the same period last year, authorities said Thursday.
The reporting period spanned from 6 p.m. Wednesday evening to 6 a.m. Thursday morning, California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada said.
CHP officers reported 54 arrests for driving under the influence, down from 65 last year, Posada said.
Statewide, four traffic-related deaths were reported to the CHP, compared with five over the same time period in 2009, Posada said.
DUI arrested throughout the state rose slightly from 271 last year to 289 this year.
“During the holiday season, many people are in a hurry and eager to get to their destination,” CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow said in a written statement. “It’s important to remember that safety should never take a back seat. Be safe, pay attention to the road, never drink and drive, and always buckle up.”
The CHP statistics reflect only incidents handled by the CHP, which patrols freeways and state highways, as well as some surface streets in unincorporated county areas.
The fatality reported during the first 12 hours of the holiday weekend occurred about 2:25 a.m. on Eastern Avenue, just south of Medford Avenue, in an unincorporated county area near East Los Angeles, Posada said.
A 31-year-old Los Angeles man died at the scene of the solo-motorcycle crash, CHP officials said.
“For unknown reasons, the motorcycle collided into the center median,” a CHP statement read.
The rider was thrown from his motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries, officials said.
As the holiday weekend continues, CHP officers will be out in force to watch for speeders and drunken drivers.
The holiday “maximum enforcement period” began at 6 p.m. Wednesday and continues through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, officials said. Officers will also look for drivers not wearing seat belts.
During the CHP’s maximum enforcement periods, all available officers are assigned to patrol duty. Similar efforts are planned over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays.

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Elderly woman killed while crossing street in Duarte

DUARTE — Authorities Wednesday released the name of an 87-year-old Duarte woman who was fatally struck by a car while crossing Huntington Drive.
Guadalupe Maria Rocha was pronounced dead at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia shortly after Tuesday’s 5:20 p.m. accident on Huntington Drive, west of Highland Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Walker said.
The initial investigation revealed Rocha was crossing southbound across Huntington when she stepped of a center median and into the path of an eastbound Honda Accord being driven by a 50-year-old woman, the sergeant said.
The driver was unable to stop in time and struck Rocha, police said.
Nothing criminal was suspected, Walker said, and the driver was not cited or arrested.

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Cooley concedes AG Race to Harris

In a brief conference call a spokesman for Steve Cooley said the Los Angeles County DA has conceded in his race for AG. He called Kamala Harris and spent the day in his Los Angeles office, officials said.


“While the margin is extremely narrow and ballots are still being counted, my campaign believes that we cannot make up the current gap in the vote count for Attorney General. Therefore, I am formally conceding the race and congratulate Ms. Harris on becoming California’s next Attorney General.

“We started this campaign late but we won an exceptionally tough Republican primary by a decisive margin. In the general election, we emerged as California’s top Republican vote getter and carried 39 out of the state’s 58 counties. We also cut by more than half the margin of loss by the GOP ticket in heavily Democratic Los Angeles County.  It was gratifying to have received the votes of over 4 million Californians.

“It is unfortunate that someone who is a non-partisan non-politician could not overcome the increasingly partisan tendencies of the state, even for an office that by its nature necessitates a non-partisan approach.

KQED’s Capitol Notes Blog says Harris won’t declare victory until all the votes are counted sometime next week.http://blogs.kqed.org/capitalnotes/

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Cooley ready to concede to Harris in AG race?

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Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve has scheduled a 10:30 a.m. conference call where he will address “accredited members of the media.” The speculation is that Cooley will concede a loss to San Francisco D.A. Kamala Harris in the state’s attorney general race.

On Tuesday, the LA Weekly called the race for Harris using a fairly straight forward ballot analysis.
As California Watch points out this morning if Harris wins, she will be California’s first woman and first black Attorney General
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Family seeks missing Pasadena man

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PASADENA — The brother of a missing man Tuesday turned to the public for help.

Eric Fowler of Burbank said his brother Marc Fowler, 56, has been missing since midnight Sunday from a board-and care facility on Garfield Avenue in Pasadena.

“He is not dangerous, but he needs his medication,” Eric Fowler said. “He could be anywhere and I dont think he knows enough to find a shleter.”

The missing man, a Vietnam era veteran, has a prostetic leg and walks with a pronounced limp, according to his brother. He is not likely carrying identification.

Pasadena police are conducting the search.

A detective sergeant did not return a call seeking additional information on the case.

Read more:http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_16692004#ixzz168d6PR54

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Towing scam results in jail for police chief

This from the Southwest Riverside News Network, but perhaps relevant locally:

Former Mt. San Jacinto College police Chief Kevin Harold Segawa is slated to be sentenced today to a year in jail for bribery and other felonies tied to towing scams he perpetrated at the campus.

Segawa, 39, entered a plea deal in June, on the day of his preliminary hearing.

The defendant was charged last December with bribery, destruction of evidence by a public official, and two counts each of perjury, submitting falsified documents and embezzlement — all felonies — as well as misdemeanor counts of concealing evidence and modifying a written notice to appear.

The ex-cop pleaded guilty to all charges, and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Helios Hernandez indicated he would consider a 365-day jail sentence for Segawa, as well as several years’ probation, instead of prison.

Prosecutors alleged that between 2005 and 2008, Segawa sent 85 percent of the campus’s towing business to Pirot’s Towing, whose 40-year-old owner, Morgan Allen McComas, is charged with bribery and misappropriation of funds.


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