Monthly Archives: May 2014

UPDATED: One killed, three wounded in Bellflower shooting

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BELLFLOWER >> A man died and three other people were wounded in a shooting along Flower Street in Bellflower late Friday, authorities said.
The shooting took place about 7:50 p.m. in the 9500 block of Flower Street, between Bellflower Boulevard and Clark Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Robert Spracher said.\
A total of four people were wounded in the shooting, sheriff’s officials said. One man succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. Three other victims, initially described only as male, were hospitalized unknown condition.
Deputies encountered victims wounded at the scene, and were looking into reports that a possible fourth victim may have also shown up at a hospital, Spracher said.
Further details were not immediately available.
Deputies received numerous 9-1-1 calls reporting the shooting on the busy street, Spracher said.
“We’re still trying to gather information on suspects,” he said. No suspects were in custody.

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Whittier woman sentenced for near-fatal shooting of Pico Rivera woman

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PICO RIVERA — A judge sentenced a 35-year-old Whittier woman to more than three decades in state prison Thursday for serving as the getaway driver in the 2011 shooting of a Pico Rivera woman which left her in a vegetative state, authorities said.
Michele Caldera received a prison term of 32 years to life in Norwalk Superior Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani said.
She faced a maximum sentence of 40 years to life in prison following her April 14 conviction for the attempted murder of then-36-year-old Gloria Montes on May 19, 2011, officials said. A jury also convicted her of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and found true the special allegation that the attack was gang-related.
Montes was shot in the head as she slept in her home in the 5300 block of Lindsey Avenue in Pico Rivera.
Montes testified from a wheelchair during earlier court proceedings, but has since taken a turn for the worst and is now in a vegetative state, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Brock Lunsford said.
Caldera drove triggerman Arthur Lerma, 36, of Whittier and Jose Trejo, 24, of Pico Rivera to the scene of the shooting.
“At trial, the prosecutor said Lerma targeted the victim because she told police that he was involved in a robbery,” district attorney’s officials said in a written statement.
Lerma served eight years in prison for a 2002 robbery, and had recently been paroled when the shooting occurred, investigators said.
“While Lerma was in prison, he sent the victim a letter that said he knew she snitched on him. Furthermore, Lerma said he was going to kill her when he got out of prison.”
The three defendants were partying together at a motel when Caldera borrowed a car to drive Lerma and Trejo home, prosecutors said. But the three made a stop in an alley outside Montes’ home.
“The two men approached and Lerma yelled out, “Go-Go,” which was the victim’s nickname,” according to the district attorney’s office statement. “The female victim answered and Lerma shot her in the head.”
A jury convicted Lerma in April of attempted murder, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury also found that the crime was gang-related.
Lerma received a sentence of 60 years to life in prison May 7.
Trejo, who had pleaded “no contest” to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, was expected to receive eight years in state prison when he returned to Norwalk Superior Court for sentencing June 3. He testified during the trial for Lerma and Caldera.
Prosecutors described Lerma and Trejo as members of the Pico Nuevo street gang, and Caldera as a member of the Whittier Varrio Locos gang, which is allied with Pico Nuevo.
Montes, a self-described Pico Nuevo gang member, testified at a 2012 preliminary hearing that she had been close friends with people named Arthur Lerma and Michele Caldera, but she did not recognize them in the courtroom. She further testified that if she knew the identity of her attackers, she would not say.
She also testified she did not recall receiving the threatening letter from Lerma while he was in prison for the 2002 robbery.
Officials said that while Montes had been interviewed by detectives regarding the 2002 robbery, she never testified against Lerma.

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Police plan checkpoint in Whittier

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WHITTIER — Police are planning a sobriety and driver’s license checkpoint late Saturday, officials said.
The checkpoint will take place from 7:30 p.m. Saturday to 2:30 a.m. Sunday at an undisclosed location within Whittier, Whittier police officials said in a written statement.
“Over the course of the past three years in the cities of Whittier and Santa Fe Springs, DUI collisions have claimed four lives and resulted in 119 injury crashes harming 167 of our friends and neighbors,” Sgt. Rob Hanson said.
Funding for 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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Man injured in unprovoked attack in Pasadena

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PASADENA — A young man reported he was attacked without provocation by two assailants while walking in Pasadena early Friday, police said.
The victim was beaten and attacked with a bottle just after midnight at Washington Boulevard and El Molino Avenue, Pasadena police Lt. Jason Clawson said. He was taken to a hospital with cuts, though the injuries did not appear major.
Clawson said the 19-year-old Pasadena resident was approached by two attackers wearing baseball caps, one of whom carried a bottle. A more detailed description was not available, and no vehicle was reported in connection with the crime.
“The suspects assaulted him without provocation,” the lieutenant said.
At one point, one of the assailants swung the bottle at the victim, Clawson said. He blocked the bottle with his hand, causing a cut. He also suffered cuts to his face during the attack.
The injured man notified sheriff’s deputies in nearby Altadena of the attack about two hours later, Clawson said. Deputies turned the investigation over to Pasadena police once it was determined the crime took place within their jurisdiction.

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Third and final defendant convicted of role in starting the Colby Fire

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A federal jury on Thursday convicted the last of three suspects charged with starting the damaging Colby Fire above Glendora early this year, as officials cautioned that a looming storm poses a potential debris flow threat to the barren hillsides created by the wildfire.
The Los Angeles jury convicted Jonathan Carl Jarrell, a 23-year-old transient, of one felony and one misdemeanor in connection with a campfire that grew out of control on Jan. 16 and became the 1,952-acre wildfire that burned five homes and 17 other structures. One civilian and five firefighters were hurt during the fire.
Jarrell was found guilty of one felony charge of unlawfully setting timber afire, and a misdemeanor charge of illegally starting a fire, U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Thom Mrozek said in a written statement. The jury deadlocked on two additional misdemeanor charges related to the fire.
“As a result of today’s guilty verdicts, Jarrell faces up to five-and-a-half years in federal prison when he is sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu on July 31,” Mrozek said.
The final conviction in the three-defendant case came just as Glendora city officials issued a “Yellow Alert” to urge residents to be prepared of the possibility of mud or debris flows in the hillsides denuded by the Colby Fire.
The thunderstorm was expected to hit Palmdale hardest, however officials issued the Yellow Alert, “due to the unpredictability of thunderstorms and the possibility it may go over the Colby Impact Area,” Glendora police officials said in a written statement.
Two friend’s of Jarrell’s were tried separately and each convicted by a federal jury May 16 of one felony count of unlawfully setting timber afire and three other misdemeanor charges related to illegally starting a campfire.
Clifford Eugene Henry, 22, of Glendora and transient Steven Robert Aguirre, 21, each face up to six-and-a-half years in federal prison when they return to court for sentencing Aug. 4, officials said.
“Henry, Aguirre and Jarrell were detained by Glendora police officers after they were seen escaping the fire,” Mrozek said. “During interviews with Glendora Police and personnel with the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s Arson Investigations Unit — interviews that the jury heard during the two trials — all three defendants admitted playing a role in the starting of a campfire that started the Colby Fire after wind blew burning paper into the brush in the hills above Glendora.”
The investigation was carried out by the Glendora Police Department, the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

PHOTO of Jonathan Jarrell: courtesy

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Man fatally struck by SUV, pickup truck in South El Monte identified

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SOUTH EL MONTE >> Coroner’s officials Thursday released the identity of a 46-year-old Los Angeles man fatally struck by two vehicle while trying to cross Rosemead Boulevard.
Jose Javier Ramirez died at the scene of the 4:20 a.m. collision on Rosemead Boulevard, just north of the 60 Freeway, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.
An autopsy was carried out Thursday, Harvey said. Ramirez died of blunt force injuries, and the death was ruled an accident.
He was wearing dark clothing when he tried to cross the street and was struck by a Honda CRV that was heading north on Rosemead Boulevard, California Highway Patrol Officer Doris Peniche said. The CRV driver, a Temple City man, remained at the scene and called for help.
A second vehicle, described as a white box truck, also struck Ramirez but continued driving, officials said. A further description of the truck or its driver was not available.
Officers from the East Los Angeles office of the CHP are handling the investigation.

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UPDATED: Detectives, coroner’s officials examine human bones discovered on Pasadena hillside

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PASADENA >> An investigation was underway Thursday after a Caltrans crew clearing brush near the 134 Freeway discovered human bones on a hillside just south of the Rose Bowl, officials said.
The bones were found by a work crew about 1:15 p.m. on a residential hillside along Linda Vista Avenue, just south of Fern Drive, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.
As the investigation continued into the afternoon, “The L.A. County Coroner confirmed they’re human remains,” Pasadena police Lt. Vasken Gourdikian said.
0523_NWS_PSN-L-BONES2No further description of the bones was available, and it was not clear if foul play was involved in the death.
“We’re treating it as a crime scene until we prove otherwise,” Gourdikian said.
The Caltrans crew was clearing brush when they came upon the bones and notified police, Pasadena police Lt. Jason Clawson said.
Pasadena police homicide detectives were also summoned to the scene, police Lt. Jason Clawson said.
The remains were expected to be turned over to a forensic anthropologist for examination, Harvey said.
Coroner’s investigators called off their work as night fell, but planned to return with the coroner’s Special Operations Response Team Friday during daylight hours to continue the investigation, coroner’s Investigator Kimberley Arnold said.
The SORT team is called upon when a coroner’s investigation requires excavation.
Nearby resident Curtis Autenrieth, 59, said many transients often camp beneath the 134 Freeway overpass, just a stone’s throw away from the hillside where the remains were discovered Thursday. He added he thought the hillside an unlikely place for a criminal to dispose of a body, as it sits within yards of Linda Vista Avenue, which is well travelled by both vehicles and pedestrians.
“With the amount of transients that are right across the street, it’s highly probably in my mind that a transient just went to sleep there and died,” he said. “It’s unfortunate.”

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Burglars flee with $7 in Monrovia pet store burglary

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MONROVIA >> Two “shadowy figures” escaped with $7 after breaking into a Monrovia pet shop early Thursday, authorities said.
The burglary took place about 1:30 a.m. at PetSmart, 745 W. Huntington Drive, Monrovia police Lt. Michael Lee said.
A witness reported hearing the front window of the store shattering, then two “shadowy figures” fleeing from the area, according to the lieutenant.
Police discovered the intruders had entered the store and gone through the cash registers, Lee said. They obtained $7 in the felony. No animals were taken or injured.
Detectives were checking area surveillance cameras for clues, he added.

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Pasadena city commissioner, associate plead not guilty to mortgage fraud charges

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A Pasadena city commissioner and his associate, accused of running a $2.3-million mortgage fraud scheme, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a series of felony charges.

Northwest Commission member and real estate broker Allen Bernard Shay, 55, and former real estate agent Eddie Turner, 44, of Altadena appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court to answer to charges stemming from the alleged fraud related to the 2005 purchase and 2007 refinance of a $1 million home in the 2400 block of North Altadena Drive.

FULL STORY….

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UPDATED: Man shot in the neck in Hacienda Heights; suspect arrested

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HACIENDA HEIGHTS >> A man suffered a gunshot wound to his neck and a suspect was in custody following a gang-related shooting in a residential neighborhood Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The shooting took place about 3:40 p.m. in the 1000 block of Olympus Avenue, Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Art Marrujo said.
The victim, a 44-year-old Hacienda Heights resident and member of a local street gang, suffered a through-and-through wound to his neck but was hospitalized in stable condition after undergoing surgery, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Thurlo said.
The suspect, a local gang member man in his early 20s, was arrested nearby after the chain broke on the bicycle he was using as a getaway vehicle, Thurlo said. His name was not available Sunday afternoon pending the booking process.
All three were on Olympus Avenue when the suspect and victim became involved in an argument over gang affiliations, Thurlo said. The suspect pulled a handgun and shot the victim before fleeing on a bicycle.
A friend of the victim flagged down a sheriff’s deputy and pointed out where the gunman had gone but refused to cooperate further, the sergeant said.
Deputies found the suspect around the corner in the 15700 block of Wallbrook Drive, Thurlo said. He was taken into custody without a struggle.
Deputies found a handgun discarded in the area of the same caliber used in the shooting, officials said.
Deputies summoned their counterparts in the gang unit to take over the investigation.

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