South Pasadena burglary suspects arrested following crash in Alhambra

SOUTH PASADENA >> Police arrested two South Pasadena burglary suspects after they crashed their getaway car in Alhambra on Thursday afternoon, authorities said.
The incident began about 3:15 p.m. when a witness called police to reports a break-in at a home in the 1000 block of Milan Avenue, South Pasadena police Sgt. Spencer Louie said.
Responding officers caught sight of a vehicle matching the suspect description driving away from the area, he said. As officers attempted to catch up with the car, but before they tried to pull it over, the car crashed into another car at Fremont Avenue and Mission Road in Alhambra, the sergeant said.
Both suspect were arrested at the crash scene, he said. One complained of pain and was examined at a hospital prior to booking.
A man at the wheel of the car the fleeing suspects struck was unhurt, Louie added.
The suspects’ identities were not available pending the booking process.

PHOTO courtesy of the Alhambra Police Department

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Azusa man admits to sexual assault of Glendale woman inside her home

PASADENA >> An Azusa man admitted breaking into a Glendale woman’s home and sexually assaulting her at knifepoint before being chased away by her adult son in 2015, officials said.
Justin Amador Rios, 20, pleaded guilty Thursday in to one count of forcible sexual penetration in the Pasadena branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Ricardo Santiago said. Rios also admitted to a special allegation that he personally used a knife in the crime.
Rios did not know his victim prior to the crime, Santiago said. “It was a random attack.”
The attack took place on June 3, 2015, in the 900 block of Orange Grove Avenue, officials said.
“The defendant broke into the 38-year-old victim’s home and assaulted her at knifepoint,” Santiago said in a written statement. “When she managed to scream for help, her adult son woke up and stopped the attack.”
Glendale police found and arrested Rios in connection with the attack the following day.
Two additional counts of forcible oral copulation and one additional count of burglary were dismissed during Thursday’s hearing, which was the result of a negotiated plea arrangement, according to Santiago and court records.
Rios is expected to receive 24 years to life in state prison when he returns to court for sentencing on May 16, Santiago said.

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Man wounded in shooting near Duarte


DUARTE >> A man suffered a leg wound in a shooting in an unincorporated county area between Duarte and Monrovia on Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.
The shooting too place about 5 p.m. in the 2400 block of Lincoln Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Harris said.
Deputies responding to the incident encountered a man in his early-20s who had been shot in the lower calf with a large-caliber pistol bullet, the sergeant said. He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
The shooter fled the scene in a red sedan, the sergeant said. A detailed description of the attacker was not available.
Anyone with information can reach the sheriff’s Temple City Station at 626-285-7171. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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UPDATED: Man gunned down while collecting charity donations in Norwalk

NORWALK >> Detectives are seeking the killer or killers of a 50-year-old man who was gunned down while soliciting charity donations in a residential Norwalk neighborhood on Tuesday afternoon, authorities said.
The fatal shooting took place about 5:30 p.m. in the 14400 block of Dinard Avenue, according to Deputy Trina Schrader of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Information Bureau.
“Detectives have learned that the victim was shot and killed while walking down the street going door-to-door soliciting to paint addresses on the curb-lines,” Schrader said in a written statement.
The man was wounded several times in the “upper torso,” Schrader said Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Coroner’s officials did not formally identify the victim on Wednesday, however officials at the charity for which the man was working when he was shot identified him as Matthew Douglas Glover, 50, of Long Beach.
“Homicide detectives are actively searching for two male Hispanics in their early-20sm, driving a late-model, four-door, white sedan,” Deputy Carolina Rodriguez of the sheriff’s Information Bureau said. “Homicide detectives and the victim’s family are asking the public’s assistance in obtaining any information that will help solve this crime.”
The circumstances of the shooting remains a mystery.
Glover was collecting donations for the Whittier-based charity Care For The Children, according to organization director and founder, Robert Henderson.
Henderson said he’d been working with Glover on-and-off for the past 14 years, even before Care For The Children began in it’s current form in 2006. Glover moved back to Southern California, where he grew up, about two weeks ago after spending time staying with his parents in Arizona, where his mother recently died. He had been staying at a sober living house in Long Beach.
“Matt was one of those guys that the moment you started talking to him, you’d like him,” Henderson said. “He’d make you smile or laugh. He was charismatic. He was bubbly. He had that upbeat personality.”
Glover spend his mornings delivering food baskets to the elderly, then he spent evening collecting donations from address painting, according to Henderson. He enjoyed his work.
Glover was collecting donations after the organization previously re-painted the addresses on curb-sides on Dinard Avenue when the fatal shooting took place, Henderson said.
“He had just collected a donation. He was walking away from the door, he heard the gunshots being fired,” Henderson said.
Henderson said he did no understand why anyone would have targeted Glover, and wondered if the shooting was a robbery or a case of mistaken identity.
Glover is survived by an adult son, Henderson said.
“He was a great guy,” the employer said.
Funds to help Glover’s family with burial expenses are being collected online at www.gofundme.com/memorial-for-beloved-matthew-glover.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

PHOTO of Matthew Glover, courtesy.

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Woman struck in head with bottle in Monterey Park


MONTEREY PARK >> A woman was struck in the head with a beer bottle during an attack as she and a man walked down a street in Monterey Park, police said.
The assault with a deadly weapon took place just after 3 p.m. as a man and woman in their 20s were walking in the 2000 block of Bleakwood Avenue, near East Los Angeles College, Monterey Park police Lt. Eric Kim said.
They were approached by four suspects, and became involved in an argument over an unknown subject, the lieutenant said.
“The female was struck with a beer bottle,” according to Kim. She suffered a small cut to her head but declined to be taken to a hospital. The man who accompanied the woman was not injured.
A detailed description of the suspects was not available, and the motive in the attack was unclear.
Anyone with information can reach Monterey Park police at 626-573-1313. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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Pasadena man accused of slashing roommate during fight over noise


PASADENA >> A Pasadena man is accused of assault with a deadly weapon after an argument over noise with his roommate escalated into a stabbing early Tuesday, police said.
Jorge Olguin, 23, was arrested following the 4 a.m. incident at an apartment in the 400 block of North Los Robles Avenue, Pasadena police Lt. Mark Goodman said.
The suspect and his roommate, a 53-year-old man, got into an argument after the older man accused his roommate of making too much noise, according to the lieutenant.
“The argument progressed to the point where the suspect armed himself with a knife,” Goodman said. “The suspect lunged at victim.
“The victim was able to dodge the knife, for the most part,” he said. The victim suffered a 4-inch cut to the back of his neck that was not considered to be life-threatening.
Police found Olguin at the scene and arrested him without a struggle, Goodman said. He was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.
Police collected the kitchen knife believed to have been used in the attack as evidence, he added.

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Authorities search for missing boy after father found unconscious at South Pasadena park

SOUTH PASADENA >> Police and sheriff’s officials continued searching Sunday for a 5-year-old boy who was reported missing after his father, who was responsible for the child, was found unconscious in a South Pasadena Park and arrested him.
Search and rescue teams, helicopters, search dogs, neighboring police agencies and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Missing Persons Detail have joined in the search for Aramazd Andressian Jr., which centered around Arroyo Park in South Pasadena, sheriff’s and South Pasadena police officials said.
The boy was last seen by his mother on April 15, when she turned him over to the custody his father, Aramazd Andressian Sr., during a child custody exchange at the Baldwin Park Police Department, according to Deputy Lisa Jansen of the sheriff’s Information Bureau. The parent’s are in the process of divorcing, officials added.
The boy’s mother last heard from him Tuesday, when she spoke with him via a “Skype” video call, South Pasadena police officials said.
Police in South Pasadena reportedly found the father passed out next to his parked car at the park about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Officials took him to a hospital for examination before he was arrested. It was unclear why the man had lost consciousness.
The boy’s mother reported him missing later Saturday after Andressian Sr. failed to show up for his scheduled custody exchange, authorities said. He hasn’t been seen or heard from since.
“Aramazd Andressian Jr.’s family is very concerned and asking for the public’s assistance,” Jansen said.
Aramazd Andressian Sr. had been driving a gray, 2004 BMW four-door car with a California license plate of 5FIL646. Prior to his arrest, the vehicle was last reported seen in Orange County early Friday.
The father was said to be cooperative, but investigators expressed concern that he did not appear to be a crime victim but did not know the whereabouts of his son.
Aramazd Jr. is described as 41 inches, 55 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a turquoise plaid shirt and plaid shorts and has a small mole on the bottom of his right shoulder.
Anyone with information is urged to contact South Pasadena police at 626-403-07270 or the sheriff’s Missing Persons Detail at 323-890-5500. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
— City News Service contributed to this report.

PHOTOS courtesy of the South Pasadena Police Department/Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

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Two men wounded in La Puente shooting


LA PUENTE >> Two men are expected to survive following a late-night shooting in La Puente on Saturday, officials said.
The attack took place about 11:05 p.m. in the 300 block of Ardilla Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. David Contreras said.
Deputies responded to a report of an “assault with a deadly weapon” and encountered two men suffering from gunshot wounds, he said.
One of the victims is a man in his 20, and the other is in his 40s, according to the sergeant.
Both were hospitalized with injuries not believed to be life-threatening.
Little information was available regarding the circumstances of the shooting, which Contreras said was carried out by two attackers who fled the scene in a compact car.
Anyone with information can reach the sheriff’s Industry Station at 626-330-3322. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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UPDATED: One teen killed, another wounded in Monrovia shooting


MONROVIA >> A Saturday night shooting in Monrovia left one teenager dead and another wounded, authorities said.
The shooting took place about 11:35 p.m. in the 100 block of West Cypress Street, just west of Myrtle Avenue, according to Deputy Kimberly Alexander of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Information Bureau.
Monrovia police first responded to reports of gunshots when they found the victims, Alexander said in a written statement.
“Both victims had been shot at least one time in the torso,” she said.
Paramedics pronounced one of the young men dead at the scene, officials said.
He was identified as 18-year-old Oscar Andrew Garcia of Monrovia, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Lt. Larry Dietz said.
The second gunshot victim, described as 17 years old, was hospitalized in critical condition.
The shooter was described only as a Latino man in his 20s. Sheriff’s officials released no further details regarding the circumstances of the shooting.
Neighbors said the shooting in or just outside the detached garage of a back house, and involved more than 10 gunshots.
A pair of paramedic’s gloved marked the scene of the shooting on Sunday afternoon.
One neighbor, who did not want her identity published for fear of retaliation, said the two victims did not live at the home, but were visiting friends when the gunfire erupted.
The shooter entered the property through a rear fence, which leads to an alley running just south of Cypress Street.
The gunman immediately opened fire before fleeing back through the alley, neighbors said.
Saturday night’s double shooting is the latest in a spate of at least seven shooting in the Monrovia-Duarte area since January that have left four victims dead and another four wounded. Three suspects have been jailed in connection with one of the non-fatal shootings. The rest of the cases remain unsolved.
•Two women escaped injury, though a home and parked car were struck by gunfire, in a drive-by shooting in the 500 block of Maydee Street in unincorporated county area between Monrovia and Duarte on Friday night.
•A La Puente man was found shot to death inside a vacant home in the 2600 block of Calle Martos in Duarte on April 1.
•A man was wounded in a shooting in the 400 block of East Duarte Road in Monrovia on March 29.
•A 20-year-old man died in a shooting in the 400 block of Camino Real Street in the unincorporated county area between Duarte and Monrovia on March 18.
•A 39-year-old man was shot to death as he arrived home with his wife and children in the 2300 block of Bashor Street in Duarte on Feb. 18. A $10,000 reward has since been authorized in the case by Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.
•A man was wounded in a drive-by shooting in the 2000 block of Goodall Avenue in the unincorporated county area between Monrovia and Duarte on Jan. 15.
•Two men suffered gunshot wounds in a shooting at Cresrfield Drive and Bloomdale Street in Duarte on Jan. 7. Three suspects have been arrested in connection with the shooting.
News of Saturday neight’s shooting brought longtime victims’ advocate Jeanette Chavez to tears.
Chavez lost her 16-year-old daughter, Sammantha Salas, in a shooting in the 2500 block of Peck Road in the unincorporated county area between Duarte and Monrovia that took place amid a spate of gang-violence that plagued the area in late-2007. Salas was slain with automatic gunfire as the walked from her father’s home to a nearby store with two friends. One of Salas’ friends was also wounded in the shooting.
Two cousins from Monrovia have since been sentenced to life in prison for the slaying.
Chavez has spent the past decade working with victim’s advocacy organizations, as well as on her own, to try to prevent other families from suffering similar tragedies.
“This is really taking a toll on me, and taking a toll on my heart,” she said of the recent violence. “It’s like a black eye for my daughter.”
Chavez said she addressed law enforcement and county supervisors at a Monrovia, Arcadia Duarte Town Council meeting on Wednesday regarding the issue of violence in the Monrovia-Duarte area. Two more shooting have occurred in the area since the meeting.
Chavez said she asked at the meeting about improving communications between the several law enforcement agencies that patrol the area, as well as how many deputies are assigned to the unincorporated county area between Duarte and Monrovia. But she said she did not receive satisfactory answers.
In response to the violence in the area in 2007 and 2008, Monrovia officials sought and obtained a gang injunction against two local street gangs in a 6-square-mile area encompassing portions of Monrovia and nearby unincorporated county areas.
But Duarte declined to join in the injunction, which Chavez said was the wrong decision.
“Shame on Duarte for not joining the gang injunction,” she said.
The sheriff’s Homicide Bureau is helping Monrovia police with the investigation into Saturday’s fatal shooting.
Anyone with information us urged to contact the sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to  at 800-222-8477.

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Women escape unharmed following drive-by shooting near Duarte


A home and a parked car were struck by bullets, but two women escaped injury, in a drive-by shooting on Friday night in an unincorporated county area between Duarte and Monrovia, officials said.
The gunfire was reported about 8:55 p.m. in the 500 block of Maydee Street, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Frank Ruiz said.
Two women were standing on a corner when a car drove by with three male occupants inside, the lieutenant said. Shots were fired from the passing vehicle in the direction of the women.
The women were not struck by the gunfire, Ruiz said. But a nearby house and car were pierced by bullets.
No further details were available.
Anyone with information can reach the sheriff’s Temple Station at 626-285-7171. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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