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Monthly Archives: November 2010

Gunmen rob Del Taco, try to carjack off-duty CHP officer

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HACIENDA HEIGHTS — Two armed men robbed a Del Taco restaurant Friday before unsuccessfully trying to carjack an off-duty California Highway Patrol officer, authorities said.
The crime was reported about 5:15 p.m. at the restaurant at Hacienda Boulevard and Tetley Street, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Gerard Velona said.
Two men, both carrying handguns, entered the restaurant and demanded cash from the register, the sergeant said.
After obtaining some money, the men ran out to the parking lot of the restaurant where they tried to carjack a man, who was later determined to be an off-duty CHP officer who was eating his dinner in his car, Velona said.
The man banged on his car window while brandishing their weapons, the sergeant said, but the off-duty officer drove away as he reached for his weapon.
The robbers ran across the street and disappeared, he said.
Deputies searched the area but did not find the gunmen, Velona said.
One robber was described as a Latino man in his early- to mid-20s, about 5 feet 7 inches tall and 160 pounds, officials said. He wore a blue baseball cap and a dark backpack and carried a black revolver.
The other robber was a Latino man, about 6 feet 1 inches tall, 200 pounds, with short hair, a white shirt and semi-automatic handgun.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s Industry Station.

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Police arrest sisters on suspicion of Monrovia burglary

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MONROVIA — Two sisters were behind bars Friday on suspicion of burglarizing a Monrovia home, thanks to a helpful neighbor, police said.
Alizon Castellano-Flores, 18, and Otilia Castellano-Flores, 22, both of North Hollywood, were arrested Thursday afternoon in Pacoima, Monrovia police Lt. Zeke Cerecerez said.
According to sheriff’s booking records, they were being held in lieu of $70,000 bail each at the Monrovia Police Department’s jail and were due for arraignment Monday in Pasadena Superior Court.
They’re accused of burglarizing a house shortly before noon in the 300 block of Valle Vista Avenue, the lieutenant said.
“A neighbor was in the process of washing her car and saw one female coming form the area of her neighbor’s home, carrying a flat-screen TV,” he said.
The neighbor asked the woman with the TV before she quickly placed the appliance in the trunk of a car, Cerecerez said, and quickly drove away with another woman.
The neighbor followed the car long enough to provide police with a license plate number and description of the car, he said.
Investigators matched the license plate to an address in Pacoima, officials said, where the Castellano-Flores sisters were arrested several hours later by officers from the Foothill Division of the Los Angeles Police Department.
The television stolen in Monrovia was recovered, as well as other stolen property, Cerecerez said. At least one item — a digital camera — had been reported stolen in Los Angeles.
The sisters were booked on suspicion of residential burglary and possession of stolen property, he said.
The investigation was ongoing.

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Teenage girl, boyfriend, deny stabbing girl’s grandparents to death in Rosemead

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ROSEMEAD — A 14-year-old girl and her 21-year-old boyfriend Thursday denied charges of stabbing the girl’s grandparents to death as they lied in bed in their home, court officials said.
Sophia Cristo, of Rosemead, and Rodolfo Lopez, identified as a San Gabriel Valley resident, are accused of murdering Jack Bezner, 71, and Susan Bezner, 64.
They were stabbed to death Aug. 9 at their house in the 4200 block of Arica Avenue in Rosemead.
Cristo and Lopez pleaded not guilty to the double murder at their Thursday arraignment in Los Angeles Superior Court, court officials said.
They are due back in court Dec. 16, when officials plan to select a date for their preliminary hearing.
The pair was extradited to California after they were arrested in Texas two days after the slaying with the Bezner’s SUV, investigators said.
Despite her age, Cristo has been charged as an adult.
Both are being held without bail.

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Man jailed on suspicion of beating, robbing Altadena woman

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PASADENA — Sheriff’s deputies jailed a Pasadena man Thursday on suspicion of attacking and robbing a woman at an Altadena bus stop earlier in the week, officials said.
Omar Lopez, 22, was booked on suspicion of robbery after deputies searched a home in the 1100 block of Bella Vista Avenue in Pasadena about 7 a.m. Thursday, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Dempsey said.
“It was tips from the community that led us to roughly who he was,” the lieutenant said. “They pointed us in the right direction.”
Lopez is accused of beating and robbing a 50-year-old Altadena woman as she waited at a bus stop about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday at Washington Boulevard and Altadena Drive, officials said.
He allegedly snatched her purse, pushed her to the ground and kicked her six times, Sgt. Tania Plunkett said.
She suffered only minor injuries in the attack, Dempsey said.
According to sheriff’s booking records, Lopez was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Dempsey said he was expected to be arraigned Monday in Pasadena Superior Court.

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Men accused of Turnbull Canyon kidnapping, attempted murder appear in court

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WHITTIER — Three men accused of kidnapping a young woman, slitting her throat and leaving her for dead in the Turnbull Canyon area of Whittier appeared in Norwalk Superior Court Thursday.
Jose Ayala, 27, Vincent Mendoza, 21, and Edward Meraz, 24, have pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
They appeared for a pretrial conference Thursday and are due back for another on Jan. 5, court officials said.
Ayala and Mendoza are additionally charged with the special allegation that they personally inflicted great bodily injury on Christina Martinez, 20, of Inglewood and used a knife in the crime.
Ayala , Mendoza and Meraz were each being held in lieu of $3.22 million, $2.15 million and $2.13 million, respectively.

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One acquitted, four convicted in Covina Hills 91-1 murder

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WEST COVINA – The murder trial of five young men and women accused in the shooting death of a Covina Hills woman as she talked with a 9-1-1 operator during a break-in at her home came to a close Thursday with the acquittal of one of the suspects and four convictions.
A jury found Christine Alegre, 19, not guilty in the March 19, 2008, slaying of 45-year-old Michelle Chien, also known by her Chinese name Hsiao Hsu, at her home in the 19700 block of Cameron Avenue in the unincorporated county area of Covina Hills, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Jane Robison said.
Alegre’s attorney, Mary Xinh Nguyen, said she as pleased with the outcome.
“I believe that justice was served,” she said. “That’s the right result. It really was.”
Sheriff’s booking records indicate Alegre was released from custody shortly after 1 p.m. Thursday after spending about 2 and a half years behind bars awaiting trial.
Three other defendants have been convicted of murder in connection with the shooting, which authorities have described as a burglary turned fatal.
Another defendant pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.
Alegre was accused of driving a van to pick up the killers from Chien’s home.
According to Nguyen and trial testimony, she and the other defendants were on their way to “smoke” when Santana pulled so he could burglarize the home, which he believed belonged to the family of his ex-girlfriend.
Santana’s ex-girlfriend’s family had since moved out of the home, and Chien had moved in.
While Alegre andthe other female suspect, who were good friends, waited in the car, the three young men entered the home, Nguyen said.
When they found Chien inside the home speaking with a 9-1-1 dispatcher, the jury found, Santana shot her to death.
Alegre, who did not have a driver’s license, drove the van away from the scene and toward her own nearby home when Santana called her and ordered her to return and pick them up, Nguyen said. When Alegre and Fernandez returned, Santana again took the wheel and drove the group away from Chien’s home.
The jury did not find that Alegre had intent or knowledge of the burglary, Nguyen said.
The defense attorney conceded that the evidence presented in court may have warranted a charge of abetting after the fact, that offense was not charged.
“(The prosecution) wanted everyone to do down,” Nguyen said.
Having spent more than 2 years in jail for her minimal role in the crime, Nguyen said, “She learned her lesson” when it comes to associating with the wrong people. “I don’t think she would ever make that kind of mistake.”
The prosecutor in the case, Ian Phan, could not be reached for comment.
A West Covina Superior Court jury convicted Victor Muartua, 21, Wednesday of first-degree murder along with the special allegation that the killing was carried out during the commission of a burglary, Robison said. He’s due back in court to be sentenced to life in prison without parole on Jan. 18.
Muartua, a U.S. citizen, was arrested for disturbing the peace in Tijuana in early 2009 and turned over to U.S. authorities after Mexican officials learned he was wanted for murder
Christopher Stratis, 19, was convicted of the same charges Monday and faces the same prison term at his sentencing Dec. 1, Robison said.
The triggerman in the shooting, 22-year-old Christopher Santana, was convicted of first-degree murder as well as the special allegation of personally using a handgun to kill Chien in July and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole July 15, officials said.
Megali Fernandez, 19, pleaded no contest to a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the case and is due to be sentenced Dec. 9, officials said. She testified for the prosecution against Santana.
Stratis, Alegre and Fernandez were juveniles when the slaying occurred, though they were charged as adults.
A D.A.’s Office internal committee did not seek the death penalty against Muartua and Santana, though they were adults when the crime was committed and were eligible for the death penalty.
Robison said the D.A.’s office does not discuss the reasoning of the committee when deciding whether or not to pursue the death penalty.

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Octomom: “The human guinea pig”

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This from the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Food and Drug Administration investigator says the fertility doctor who implanted embryos into “Octomom” Nadya Suleman was using an experimental procedure.

Donna Tartaglino Besone testified Thursday in Los Angeles in the state medical board hearing for Dr. Michael Kamrava. She says the doctor used Suleman as part of a human experiment on fertility methods.

The board is trying to revoke the doctor’s medical license, alleging gross negligence in his treatment of Suleman and two other patients. All 14 of Suleman’s children were conceived through in vitro treatments that Kamrava provided.

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Pasadena smash and grab yields arrests and possible tie-in to Glendale

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Here’s a link to our excellent photo gallery.

Richard Ghoogasian, the store manager, said he saw five to seven men when he came out from the back of the store.

“I wasn’t going to get physically involved until I saw one of them take a swing at one of the girls. I threw a phone at them and missed,” he said.

An ambulance was dispatched to treat a female employee injured in the break-in. Police did not release the names of those arrested Wednesday.

According to Ghoogasian, the suspects didn’t take much – “they did more damage than anything,” he said.

Compare that to this Glendale PD video release – then judge for yourself:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9bb_1290022174

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Cooley Harris AG race down to the wire

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Brian Charles has all the skinny after a visit to Norwalk Wednesday:
While 8 million Californians voted in the state’s attorney general’s race, about 300 Los Angeles County election workers will decide the fate of a race “too close to call.”

That’s if the candidates, Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley and San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, don’t end up settling the election in court.

Harris holds a slight edge over Cooley statewide and a double-digit lead in Los Angeles County.

In recent days, each side has asserted the other is trying to unfairly pressure county officials counting ballots.

“This is sniping as usual that only comes around when the votes are close enough that the race could be affected by the qualification or disqualification

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Stabbing reported in Valinda

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VALINDA — A man suffered cuts to his head in a knife attack Wednesday, officials said.

A local man in his mid-20s was standing in a driveway in the 17100 block of Francisquito Avenue in the unincorporated county area of Valinda just before 8 p.m. when he was approached by another young man, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Douglas Creighton said.

The man asked the victim “what he was looking at” before slicing him twice in the head with a pocket knife, the sergeant said. The injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The attacker fled to a nearby SUV after the wounded victim’s girlfriend used pepper spray to defend him, he said.

The suspect was described as a Latino man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 9 inches tall and 180 pounds. He had a shaved head and mustache, a white T-shirt and blue jean shorts.

Authorities said he got into a dull-red, two-door Ford Explorer, which was being driven by a woman. No further description of her was available.

Also inside the SUV was another Latino man in his mid-20s, about 5 feet 11 inches tall and 160 pounds, Creighton said. He had light brown hair and wore a dark brown shirt.

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