Monthly Archives: May 2011
Fullerton police suspect Pico Rivera man in string of robberies
FULLERTON — A stakeout at a Fullerton grocery store paid off when police caught a Pico Rivera man suspected of robbing the business for at least the third time this year, a sergeant said Thursday.Demetres Delvon Mitchell, 28, was being held in the city jail on suspicion of armed robbery, Fullerton police Sgt. Andrew Goodrich said.Investigators staked out HR Market, 253 S. Magnolia Ave., for about 200 hours before Mitchell allegedly struck again about 8 p.m. Wednesday, Goodrich said.Mitchell — as he is also accused of doing in January and March — hopped a counter and grabbed cash out of the register, Goodrich said.“He’s a self-service kind of robber — he doesn’t wait for the clerk to give him the money,” the sergeant said.Police were waiting for the suspect, who was in the store for about 45 seconds, when he burst out the door, Goodrich said.Investigators from throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties were going over the evidence in the HR Market robberies to see if Mitchell was involved in other stickups, Goodrich said.The suspect’s method of operation appears to match multiple robberies in the Southland, Goodrich said.
West Covina man suspected of robbing ex-girlfriend
Man to face charges of killing mother in South El Monte
SOUTH EL MONTE — A Rosemead man accused of fatally stabbing his mother just under nine years ago and burying her body in the backyard of a condominium they shared will be arraigned next week on a murder charge.John Taylor Huynh, 27, was arrested Friday after sheriff’s homicide investigators unearthed a woman’s body from the backyard of the condominium, according to the District Attorney’s Office.Authorities have not positively identified the body, but the criminal complaint alleges that the victim was Huynh’s mother, Hong Tu Phuong, officials said.The criminal complaint alleges that Huynh killed the woman some time between June and July 2002, and that he used a knife in the commission of the crime.Huynh, who remains jailed, is due back in Pomona Superior Court Tuesday.If convicted, he faces up to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Teenage girl, boyfriend, to stand trial in slaying of girl’s grandparents
From City News Service:
ROSEMEAD — A 15-year-old girl and her 21-year-old boyfriend were ordered Wednesday to stand trial for the stabbing deaths of her grandparents at the couple’s Rosemead home last summer.Sophia Janalisa Cristo and Rodolfo Lopez are charged with murdering Jack Bezner, 71, and his 64-year-old wife, Susan, who were found dead in their bed last Aug. 9 at their home in the 4200 block of Arica Avenue.The murder charge includes the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders, along with the allegations that the two each used a knife and inflicted great bodily injury on the victims.Prosecutors will decide later in the case whether to seek the death penalty against Lopez.Cristo, who was 14 at the time but was charged as an adult, is not eligible for the death penalty because of her age.The two were arrested last Aug. 11 in Horizon City, Texas, after detectives learned they might be on their way there in the Bezners’ missing Nissan sport utility vehicle.Cristo and Lopez are due back at the downtown Los Angeles courthouse on June 8 for arraignment.
Suspect wounded in shoot-out with police officer in Glendora grocery store
GLENDORA — Police wounded and arrested a suspected robber during a shoot-out inside a crowded grocery store late Saturday, authorities said.
The suspect, whose name was not released, was hospitalized in critical condition, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Harry Drucker said in a written statement. No officers or bystanders were wounded in the exchange of gunfire.
An officer spotted a man suspected in a department store robbery earlier in the day about 10 p.m. near a Ralph’s grocery store, 655 S. Grand Ave., Drucker said.
“The suspect pulled out a handgun and ran into the Ralph’s grocery, the sergeant said. “The officer pursued the suspect into the location and when the suspect fired his handgun at the officer, he was forced to return fire.”
The wounded suspect, initially described only as a white man in his mid-30s, was struck once in the upper body hospitalized in critical condition.
“The Ralph’s was crowded,” sheriff’s Lt. John Corina said. “It was full of people shopping at the time, and the suspect was firing from behind the checkstands at the officer as he entered the store.”
The robbery the wounded suspect was suspected of took place just after 4 p.m. at Kohl’s department store, 1225 S. Lone Hill Ave., Glendora police Lt. Rob Lamborghini said.
Police said the robber brandished a handgun as he demanded cash from a store employee.
“Using investigative leads and witness information, Glendora officers were able to identify the suspect, the vehicle he was driving and the location where the vehicle was registered,” Lamborghini said.
Officers went to the home where the car was registered Saturday afternoon, he said, but the suspect wasn’t found.
— City News Service contributed to this report.