Monthly Archives: March 2013

Man leaps from utility tower in Pasadena, lands on fire department air bag

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PASADENA — A man was taken to a hospital for psychological observation after he jumped from a utility tower Friday night.
Pasadena Police Lt. Jason Clawson said the man fell about 50 feet and landed on an air bag that Pasadena firefighters placed under the Edison tower. The man wasn’t injured, he said.
The incident started at 3:38 p.m. when police received a call about a man on a tower at Kinneloa Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.
Clawson said the man was standing on a railing of the tower.
The police department’s crisis negotiating team responded and were talking to the man. At 10:10 p.m., Clawson said the man jumped.
He didn’t know what led the man to climb the tower and leap.
– Ruby Gonzales

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ATM stolen from Whittier gas station

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WHITTIER — A man in a pickup truck made off with an ATM from a a gas station early Saturday, police said.
The white pickup, described as a work truck, pulled into the Chevron station at Whittier Boulevard and Greeneleaf Avenue about 6:50 a.m., Whittier police Lt. Mike Przybyl said.
The man apparently attached something to the cash machine without catching the clerk’s attention, the lieutenant said.
“The clerk heard a thump and saw the truck leaving, dragging the ATM,” he said. The truck was last seen heading west on Whittier Boulevard.
The thief was described only as male, Przybyl said. It was not clear how much money was inside the machine.

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Man wounded in West Valinda drive-by shooting

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WEST VALINDA — A drive-by shooting late Thursday left one man seriously injured, though he was expected to survive, authorities said.
It happened about 11:40 p.m. in the 800 block of Duff Avenue.
Lt. Richard Shear of the sheriff’s Industry Station said two men were standing outside when someone in a vehicle started shooting at them
One of the men was hit in the chest, Shear said. Paramedics took the injured man to a hospital.
The wounded man, a 20-year-old local resident, was initially hospitalized in critical condition, though he was expected to survive his injuries, Lt. Arthur Scott said Friday.
The vehicle involved in the attack was described as a silver or gray hatchback, Scott said. No description of the person or people inside was available.
The motive in the shooting remained under investigation, but was initially suspected to be gang-related, he added.
– Ruby Gonzales and Brian Day

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Men killed in 605 Freeway crash identified

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WHITTIER — Authorities Friday released the names of a Whittier man and a Baldwin Park man who died in a multi-car pileup on the San Gabriel River (605) Freeway early Thursday.
Joseph David Acuna, 60, of Whittier and Carrasco Librado Anaya, 67, of Baldwin Park died at the scene of the crash, which took place shortly before 2:30 a.m. on the southbound 605 Freeway, just north of Whittier Boulevard, according to Los Angeles County Department of Coroner and California Highway Patrol officials.
The chain-reaction crash occurred over about eight minutes and began with solo-car crash into the center divider, CHP Sgt. Joe Zizi said.
A Honda Civic being driven by an 18-year-old Whittier woman crashed into the center divider and the woman exited her car, leaving it in traffic lanes as she walked to the right shoulder of the freeway, officials said.
Two minutes later, Acuna came upon the scene in his Chrysler 300 and crashed into the disabled Honda, Zizi said. Two minutes after that, Anaya’s Toyota Camry struck the crashed cars.
An Acura then avoided the wreckage but overturned in the process, Zizi said, just before a fifth vehicle — a Honda Civic — also struck the disabled cars.
The three other drivers involved in the five-vehicle wreck were unhurt, he added.
The cause of the crash was being investigated by the Santa Fe Springs office of the CHP.

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‘Suspicious substance’ found at Whittier College

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WHITTIER – Police and the FBI are working to identify a “suspicious substance” found inside a Whittier College dorm room late Thursday, authorities said.
The material was discovered about 9 p.m. by campus security officers who were performing routine dorm checks, Whittier police Lt. Kent Miller said. No description of the substance was available.
Campus security officials collected the suspicious substance and notified Whittier police, Miller said.
“We had a hard time identifying it so we called the FBI,” Miller said.
Whittier police, FBI and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health officials remained at the campus, 13406 E. Philadelphia St., Friday morning trying to determine the nature of the substance, police said.
Investigators were also speaking with a “person of interest” — a resident of the dorm room where the substance was found — Friday morning, Miller said.
FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said it was too early in the investigation to describe the substance or discuss what it might be, “until we determine more, until they’re able to test it.”
“At this time, there are no immediate public safety concerns,” Eimiller said.
The substance was found in the Stauffer Residence Hall, a three-story freshman dorm at the west end of the campus. It houses about 185 students.
No evacuations were ordered, and classes were expected to continue as normal, Whittier College spokeswoman Ana Liliana Barraza said.
Students were notified of the situation via email and text message, she added.
FBI and campus police personnel escorted a young man, with a slight build and wearing glasses, back and forth from Ball Hall, adjacent to Stauffer Hall and the campus security trailer.
Officials would not confirm if he was the person of interest who was interviewed. Although not in handcuffs, campus police detained the young man in their facility, where they fed him, and then drove him from the area about noon.

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Body found beneath Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, suicide suspected

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PASADENA — Police are investigating the death of a man who was found beneath the Colorado Street Bridge Thursday as a suicide, authorities said.
The dead man was a 51-year-old Chatsworth resident, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
The body was discovered shortly before 2 p.m., after a witness reported seeing the man apparently jump from the bridge, according to Pasadena police and county coroner’s officials said.
An autopsy was pending Friday, however the death was being investigated as a suicide.

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Man sought for attempted kidnapping of teenage girl in San Gabriel

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SAN GABRIEL — Police are seeking a man who tried to kidnap a 16-year-old girl from the front of a family member’s home earlier this week, authorities said.
The girl escaped unharmed from the man, who grabbed onto her 9 p.m. Tuesday in the 1900 block of South Jackson Avenue, near Ramona Boulevard, San Gabriel police Lt. Brian Kott said.
Prior to the incident, she had been sitting on the east curb of Jackson Avenue near the home of a family member, police said in a written statement. She saw the suspect pass by her in his car, make a U-turn and pull over along the east curb.
The man got out of his car, and the girl became worried for her safety and began walking back to her family member’s home, which was beyond the man’s parked car, officials said.
“As the victim walked past the suspect, he stated, ‘You need to come with me,’ while simultaneously opening the rear passenger door of the vehicle,” according to the police statement.
“The suspect then forcible grabbed the victim by the collar, causing her to fall to the ground,” the statement continued. “As the victim tried to get back up, the suspect continued to grab at the victim’s feet while she kicked and struggled to get away.”
After breaking free of the man’s grasp, the ran back to her relative’s home, officials said, noting that the man followed beside her in his car for a short distance.
“No weapon was used or seen,” Kott said.
The lieutenant described the attacker as a Latino man in his late-30s, about 6 feet tall and of thin build. He had dark, wavy, shoulder-length hair and he wore a black jacket and blue jeans with holes in them.
He was driving a late-1990s-model black, four-door NIssan with tinted windows and chrome rims, Kott added.
While there was no indication Tuesday’s failed kidnapping was directly related to any other crime, Kott said it was worth noting that several other kidnappings and attempting kidnappings have been reported in the region over recent months, including incidents in Whittier and the San Fernando Valley.
Anyone with information on the San Gabriel incident was asked to contact San Gabriel police Detective Joseph Pelano at 626-308-2836, or the department’s dispatch center at 626-308-2828

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Police plan checkpoint in Whittier

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WHITTIER — Police are planning to screen drivers for both sobriety and valid driver licenses Friday during a checkpoint, officials said.
The checkpoint will take place from 7:30 p.m. Friday to 3:30 a.m. Saturday at an undisclosed location within Whittier, Whittier police officials said in a written statement.
Funding fro the checkpoint is being provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

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Driver killed when car plunges off Angeles Crest Highway north of La Canada Flintridge

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ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST — A man was killed when his vehicle went off Angeles Crest Highway and fell about 300 feet Wednesday night.
At 6:12 p.m. deputies were called to a car over the side of Angeles Crest Highway at mile marker 30.52.
Lt. Tonya Edwards of the sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station said someone saw the motorist drive off the road.
A sheriff’s homicide detective responded to the scene.
The Montrose Search and Rescue Team retrieved the body.
– Ruby Gonzales

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Cash stolen in Santa Fe Springs home invasion robbery

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SANTA FE SPRINGS — A man armed with a baseball bat and his companion who pretended to have a gun barged their way into a house and robbed the residents of cash Wednesday night.
Lt. Jay Tatman estimated the amount taken as “several hundreds”. Police believe the home invasion robbery in the 11500 block of Claymore Street wasn’t a random attack but think the victims were targeted, according to Tatman.
The robbery took place just after 10 p.m.
When a resident answered the door, he said two robbers forced their way in. The suspects claimed someone who lives at the house owes them money.
He said one of the residents pulled out cash and asked how much was the debt. The robbers took all the money and fled.
The bat-wielding suspect was described as a Latino, 20, wearing a black jacket, black shorts and black beanie. The other suspect who simulated having a firearm was described as a Latino, 20, garbed in a black jacket and blue pants.
Anyone with information is urged to call the investigations bureau of the Santa Fe Springs Police Service Center at 562-409-1850.
– Ruby Gonzales

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