West Covina man sentenced for fatal drunken driving crash

POMONA — A judge sentenced a West Covina man Wednesday to 17 years to life in prison for a drunken driving crash that killed his passenger, a 19-year-old West Covina woman, last year.
William Garzon, 22, received his sentence from Pomona Superior Court Judge Steven Blades. He was convicted last month of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level higher than .08 and driving with a suspended license.
The jury hung, however on a murder charge in connection with the March 18, 2011 crash in the 2800 block of Cortez Street in West Covina that killed Niamarie Lopez. Garzon had two previous drunken driving convictions in 2008 and 2010.
Deputy District Attorney Stacy Okun-Wiese, who prosecuted the case, said she will not seek a second murder trial.
“We chose not, at this point, to retry on the murder charge, considering everything and the sentence,” she said.
Though she said she would have preferred to see murder conviction in the case, she was pleased that Blades handed down the maximum sentence allowed under law for the fatal crash.
“I am pleased with that aspect of it,” she said.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in prison, the same as a gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated conviction, Okun-Wiese explained.
The difference is that while murders must serve 100 percent of their sentences, those convicted of manslaughter can be eligible for parole after serving 85 percent of their time.
Considering that a successful murder prosecution would not significantly increase the number of years Garzon spends behind bars, the prosecutor said, officials determined it was not necessary to put the families through the stress of a second trial.
Garzon and Lopez, who were acquaintances, had gone out drinking on the previous night, St. Patrick’s Day, and Garzon was driving Lopez home when he crashed, investigators said.
The jury deliberated for about a week before convicting Garzon of manslaughter and deadlocking on the murder charge.
Lopez was a native of West Covina who graduated South Hills High School, family members said. She was working for the Southern California Gas Company as she studied to become a nurse.
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Hundreds to remember homicide victims Sunday in Whittier

WHITTIER — Hundreds of family members of homicide victims will gather at Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary this weekend to pay tribute to those who lost their lives violently at the hands of another.
The 28th Justice for Homicide Victims Memorial Foundation Event will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. inside Gate 19 of the cemetery, 3888 Workman Mill Road, organizers said.
Family members will display photographs of their slain loved ones, light candles and release doves and balloons in honor of the victims.
Guest speakers will include San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group Senior Metro Editor Frank Girardot and retired Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Latin. The event will also include a special tribute to the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who worked two San Gabriel Valley murders — those of Eileen Ponce-Orta, 22, of Covina, in 2007 and Neil Williams, 27, and his sons Devon, 7, and Ian, 3, of Rowland Heights in 2007.
Those who plan to attend are asked to RSVP with Jane of Justice for Homicide Victims at jhvinfo@gmail.com.
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Officials identify Hacienda Heights man killed in crash on the 57 Freeway in Pomona

POMONA — Authorities Wednesday released the name of a 29-year-old Hacienda Heights man killed after his car plowed into the rear of a slowing moving Caltrans struck on the 57 Freeway in Pomona.
Brian Street died at the scene of the crash, which took place just before 2 p.m. on the northbound 57 Freeway, just north of Temple Avenue, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Lt. Larry Dietz said. His city was not listed at the coroner’s office, however California Highway Patrol officials described Street as a Hacienda Heights resident.
A Caltrans sweeper truck was working on the center median, as two black-and-white CHP cars provided traffic control, CHP Officer Kerri Rivas said. A Caltrans dump truck was in the fast lane, moving at about 5 mph.
Street was driving a 1993 Toyota Corolla north in the fast lane at an unknown speed, the officer said.
“For unknown reasons, the front of the Toyota collided with the right rear of the Caltrans four-yard dump truck,” Rivas said.
The on-scene CHP officers called for backup and performed CPR on the badly injured driver, officials said. Firefighters ultimately pronounced the man dead at the scene.
Any witnesses to the crash were asked to contact the Baldwin Park office of the CHP at 626-338-1164, or after hours, the Los Angeles Communications Center at 323-982-4900.
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Arcadia officials study crosswalk where fatal crash occurred last year

ARCADIA – The city’s legal team and traffic safety experts Sunday re-created the scene of a crash that killed a teenage girl and badly injured another in hopes of learning more about the circumstances of that fatal crash, which occurred just over a year ago.

Officials blocked off the 600 block of Duarte Road, between Baldwin and Lovell avenues, as they studied the crosswalk where Alice Zhang, 16, of Arcadia was fatally injured and her friend Priyanka Patel, 17, of Upland was badly hurt on April 10, 2011.

Investigators mounted a camera inside a car similar to the one driven by Du in the crash as they ran it through the movements involved in the fatal crash.

A gurney with a camera mounted on it was used to capture

Arcadia city officials re-create a scene that killed a 16-year girl and seriously injured an Upland teen just over a year ago, at the 600 block of West Duarte Road, between Baldwin and Lovell Avenue, in Arcadia, Sunday, April 15, 2012. (Correspondent Photo by James Carbone)

the point-of-view of the victims, and two women of the same heights as Zhang and Patel repeatedly re-enacted the crash in concert with the Lexus as officials and traffic engineers studied the scene.

Investigators said the driver’s “excessively dirty” windshield, along with glare from the afternoon sun, played a major role in the crash.

The driver – Bowen Du, 20, of Arcadia – has been sentenced to a year in jail after pleading guilty last year to a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving. 

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Firefighters rescue dog and cat from Pasadena apartment fire

PASADENA — Firefighters rescued a dog and cat from an apartment fire late Saturday, officials said.
The blaze was reported just before midnight at an apartment in the 300 block of South Oak Knoll Avenue, Pasadena Fire Department officials said in a written statement.
Firefighters encountered smoke coming out of the unit when they arrived and forced their way in, officials said.
They discovered a small fire centering around the apartment’s floor furnace and quickly extinguished it, authorities said. A dog and car were removed from the apartment unharmed.
It was determined that a rug that had been covering the floor furnace was the cause of the fire, fire officials said.
Officials estimated that the fire caused about $28,000 worth of damage to the apartment and its contents.
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DUI suspected in major-injury crash on the 605 in Baldwin Park

BALDWIN PARK — A man who was thrown from his vehicle in a solo-car crash on the 605 Freeway late Saturday is suspected drunken driving, officials said Sunday.
The crash took place just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday on the northbound 605 Freeway, just north of the 10 Freeway.
The name of the driver, a 23-year-old Los Angeles man, was not released as he remained hospitalized with major but non-life-threatening injuries, California Highway Patrol officials said in a written statement.
With a woman as a passenger in his 2004 Land Rover, the man was driving “erratically” before he veered into the right shoulder wall, according to the CHP. The Land Rover then bounced back across freeway lanes and struck the center divider wall.
“(The driver) was ejected out of the driver-side door due to him not wearing a safety belt,” according to the CHP statement. 
The passenger suffered minor to moderate injuries in the crash, officials said. Officers determined the driver was under the influence of alcohol.
The crash forced officials to close down all northbound lanes of the 605 Freeway near the 10 Freeway for more than an hour.
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Posted in DUI

Updated: Burning body found on sidewalk in Altadena

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ALTADENA — The body of a man, set on fire, was discovered early Sunday on Windsor Avenue in Altadena.
The death was first reported about 6 a.m. in the 2600 block of North Windsor Avenue, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials said in a written statement.
“Detectives have learned that a passerby saw a burning object on the sidewalk. Upon closer investigation, they realized the object was a human body and called 9-1-1,” said Deputy Lillian Peck of the Sheriff’s Headquarter’s Bureau.
“Altadena Sheriff’s Station deputies and Los Angeles County Fire Department personnel responded to the location and confirmed the burned victim was a male adult,” Peck said. “The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The body was initially identified only as that of a black man, Lt. Matt Burson of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said. The charred condition of the remains prevented officials from initially being able to determine the age of the man.
Los Angeles County Department of Coroner’s investigators will perform an autopsy to determine how the man died, Burson said. There were no bullet casings or other signs that a shooting had taken place at the spot where the body was found.
The body lied in a fetal position on the sidewalk lining the east side of Windsor Avenue.
Investigators also focused attention on a red Mazda sedan that was found parked in the street next to the body.
“We’re trying to determine if this car was, in fact, involved,” Burson said.
Neighbors didn’t report seeing or hearing anything unusual before the body was discovered, and said they were shocked to see their normally tranquil foothill neighborhood transformed into a crime scene.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tips can also be left anonymously by calling L.A. Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
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Northbound 605 shut down in Baldwin Park after major-injury crash

BALDWIN PARK — Officials shut down all northbound lanes of the 605 Freeway in Baldwin Park late Saturday as they investigated a car crash in which a man was thrown from a vehicle.
The crash was first reported about 10:30 p.m. on the northbound 605 Freeway, just north of the 10 Freeway, according to California Highway Patrol logs.
Initial reports indicated the driver of a Jeep had been thrown into the roadway and suffered severe injuries.
A woman was also riding in the Jeep, but was not thrown from the car, according to the CHP. Her condition was not immediately clear.
About 50 minutes after the crash, CHP officials began receiving reports than frustrated motorists had begun exiting their cars and walking on the freeway as officers worked to re-route traffic onto the 10 Freeway.
All lanes of the freeway were ultimately re-opened at 11:50 p.m.
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AP: Brazil police arrest 3 for murder and cannibalism

SAO PAULO (AP) — Police have arrested three people for allegedly killing at least two women, eating parts of their bodies and using their flesh to make stuffed pastries known as empanadas that they sold to neighbors in their northeastern Brazil city.

The three suspects – a man, his wife and his mistress – belonged to a sect that preached “the purification of the world and the reduction of its population,” police inspector Wesley Fernandes in the city of Garanhuns told the Globo TV network Friday.

The newspaper Estado de S.Paulo said the man, Jorge Beltrao Negromonte, wrote a 50-page book titled “Revelations of a Schizophrenic” in which he says he hears voices and is obsessed with the killing of women.

Fernandes said the three were arrested Wednesday and had confessed to the crimes.

The three allegedly lured women to their house by promising them a job as a nanny. They were tracked down after one of the arrested women used a credit card belonging to a victim who disappeared last month.

Police found the remains of the two women in the backyard of the suspects’ house, which enraged neighbors burned to the ground Thursday.

Fernandes identified the three as Negromonte; his wife, Isabel Cristina Pires; and his mistress, Bruna Oliveira da Silva.

The three allegedly had plans for killing another woman living in the nearby city of Lagoa do Ouro, Fernandes said.

– From the Associated Press

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Loyal Labrador stays with companion who was struck by car in La Puente

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Animal control officials are seeking the owner, or a new home, for a brave 2-year-old Labrador who refused to abandon her companion who had been struck by a car on Hacienda Boulevard in La Puente.
“Grace,” as she’s being called by officials from the County of Los Angeles Department of Animal Care and Control, was first spotted by a passer-by Wednesday morning in the 1200 block of Hacienda Boulevard, just north of Fairgrove Avenue, DACC officials said in a written statement.
“(Grace was) laying in the street next to another dog, which was motionless and had suffered obvious head trauma,” according the the statement.
The loyal black Labrador refused to leave the side of her companion, though the other dog had died, DACC spokesman Aaron Reyes said.
The good Samaritan placed traffic cones around the animals to keep Grace from being struck as well, officials said.
Animal control officials responded to the scene and took the frightened but unharmed dog to a shelter.
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Grace had no tag and no microchip implant, and as of Saturday, no one had come forward to claim her, Reyes said.
If she remains unclaimed, she may available for adoption as early as Monday, he added.
Though timid when she first arrived at the shelter, “The staff just showered her with admiration and love,” Reyes said. “She seems to be a well-adjusted little girl.”
Animal Care and Control Director Marcia Mayeda said she was moved by the loyalty displayed in video footage that has surfaced of Grace keeping watch over her motionless companion.
“When I saw the video clip taken from a passer-by’s cell phone, it made me emotional,” she said.
Grace is being housed at the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center, 4275 Elton Street.
Her impound number is A4416170, and she is available to visit with potential adopters through the weekend.
For more information, contact the Baldwin Park Animal Care Center at 626-962-3577.
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