290 : May 2008 Archives

Former Pomona teacher Steven Petralia is set to be sentenced in Superior Court *tomorrow.

A wrong way crash on the Southbound 605 kills a driver.  Just minutes before the accident, Anissa Rivera, our "Mom's the word" blogger describes her family's close call.

APU students are causing a parking problem in the neighborhood.

The search for more Manson Family victims at Barker Ranch in Inyo was a big zip.

Sheriff's Department about to release more information in the March slaying of a Covina Hills woman who was on the phone with 9-1-1 when she was shot to death.

An unidentified man (left) confronts a man identified as Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 33, of San Gabriel in the children's section of Border's Bookstore at Santa Anita Mall last Saturday.

Elizondo, a registered sex offender, is accused of molesting a young girl inside the store.

A seven-minute video tape of the incident shows the man identifed as Elizondo approaching the girl several times.

Wearing a red shirt, the suspect walks by, walks away and walks by again before appearing to kneel down next to the girl.

The suspect goes unnoticed for several seconds before the onlooker confronts him and chases him from the bookstore.

Here's a segment from today's story on the incident:

Elizondo is suspected of "touching his exposed genitals up against a young female child" in a Borders bookstore at Westfield Santa Anita, 400 S. Baldwin Ave., on Saturday, according to Arcadia police Lt. Ron Buckholtz.

A 32-year-old Temple City man confronted the suspect and he fled, but the man was able to later identify the suspect from a Web site listing convicted predators, police said.

The man turned over the information to Arcadia police detectives, who were able to show it to other witnesses and confirm the suspect's identity, Foley said.

"Kudos to the gentleman for taking the time not only to intervene, but to follow up on his own," Foley said. "It led to a quick arrest."

 

Sex offender Steven Michael Conklin, of West Covina, was given a 75-year to life sentence in Pomona Superior Court this morning, according to reporter Brian Day.

This from an earlier story on Conklin:

Steven Michael Conklin, 44, of West Covina was convicted Friday of possession of child pornography, failing to register as a sex offender, and two counts stemming from failing to report a change of address, court officials said.

He is due back at the Pomona Superior Court May 22 sentencing, and faces a minimum of 75 years in prison, said West Covina police Lt. Ron Mitchell.

"This will being closure to a lot of people," Mitchell said. He described Conklin's anticipated lengthy prison stay as a victory not just for West Covina, but for the community at large.

Mitchell said there's no doubt in his mind that Conklin is dangerous.

"His (criminal) practices have been very consistent through throughout several decades," he said.

Conklin turned himself in to West Covina police Sept. 28 after being informed there was a warrant for his arrest, police said shortly after the arrest.

Police began investigating him after he failed to register as a sex offender within five days of his birthday, as required by Megan's Law, Mitchell said.

 

This comes from the Arcadia Police Officer's Association blog. Just happened to notice it a few minutes ago:

A San Gabriel man was arrested today for Lewd Acts with a child after follow-up by APD Detectives. The suspect allegedly stalked and molested a young girl who was in the children's area of the Border's Book Store, Westfield Shopping Town, during the morning hours of Saturday, May 17th. A witness rushed to the aid of the young girl, knocking the suspect away. The suspect fled on foot but the crime was caught on video tape.

Unlucky for this predator, a quick thinking witness turned to the internet and helped bring the suspect's identity to the forefront by locating him through a registrant database. Detectives conducted the follow-up and arrested 33 year old Jaime Elvis Elizondo without incident. Elizondo was booked at APD on one count of PC 288(a).

The state's Megan's law database indicates Elizondo lived on Sunset in San Gabriel. He has at least one prior for the same offense according to the state

This from Whittier Daily News crime guru Ruby Gonzales:

WHITTIER -- A wanted parolee and alleged sex offender who holed up in a hotel across from the sheriff's training academy surrendered to deputies after a two-hour standoff Wednesday.

Arthur Van Meter, 38, was taken into custody by officials with the California Department of Corrections.

Sheriff's Capt. Patrick Maxwell said Van Meter gave up after talking to sheriff's negotiators. No weapons were found in the room, he added. No one was injured during the incident.

Gale Frazier, supervisor at Pasadena Parole Unit I, said Van Meter was on parole for domestic violence and is a sex offender. She said Van Meter had a GPS device attached to him.

However, a search of the Megan's Law database didn't turn up an Arthur Van Meter.
She said Van Meter was supposed to report to parole on May 5 but didn't show up so a no-bail warrant was issued for him on May 6.

"He failed to report. Two agents went to his last residence, found the GPS device. And he had disappeared," Frazier said.

Parole agents tracked Van Meter to the Days Inn at 14330 Telegraph Road. Maxwell said when Van Meter refused to come out, parole called in help from the sheriff's Norwalk Station at about 11 a.m.

You can read the entire story in tomorrow's newspaper.