Recently in Bellflower Category

NORWALK -- Jury selection began Tuesday for two El Monte men charged with slashing the throat of a 20-year-old Bellflower woman and leaving her for dead in a rugged canyon.
Vincent Mendoza, 23, and Edward Meraz, 26, are each charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon for the 2009 attack on Christina Ivonne Martinez, who was then 20 years old.
Prosecutors also allege the men personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim and Mendoza used a knife to commit the crimes.
The charges stem from the Aug. 4, 2009, kidnapping of Martinez.
Martinez told police she was going to the beach with the men, who were her friends, when she got into their car.
Instead, she was tied up, beaten and then driven to Whittier where she was unbound and forced out of the car. One of the men then allegedly slashed her throat before pushing her down the rocky canyon.
Despite her injuries, Martinez was able to climb the steep grade. She then made her way to the back door of a house in the 6000 block of Altmark Avenue in Whittier where she was helped by a resident.
A Whittier Police Department officer later stopped a Mitsubishi and found the two defendants, along with a third suspect, a shovel and a rope, police said.
The third suspect, Jose Ayala, pleaded no contest on March 17 to a single count of attempted murder and was sentenced to 39 years to life in prison.
There was no word Tuesday if he would testify against his former co-defendants.
If Meraz and Mendoza are convicted on all counts, they face face a life prison term as well.
A jury was chosen Tuesday for Mendoza. A separate jury will be selected Wednesday for Meraz, according to court staff.
The two men will be tried simultaneously, with the two juries seated in the same courtroom to save time and expenses.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday in Dept. D of the Norwalk Superior Court.

- From our counterparts over at the Long Beach Press Telegram.

This tragic story comes courtesy of City News Service:

DOWNEY -- Whoever gunned down a Bellflower man in front of his wife and children in an apparent case of road rage in Downey was at large Sunday, police said.
Juan Pacheco, 28, was shot about 6:30 p.m. Friday on the 105 Freeway while he was merging from the Lakewood Boulevard on-ramp, according to Downey police.
"As the victim was transitioning onto the eastbound 105 freeway from Lakewood Boulevard, a verbal altercation occurred between the victim and the occupants" of a blue 2002 or 2003 Honda Accord with chrome wheels and dark-tinted windows, said Downey police Lt. Phil Rego.
As the two vehicles neared Woodruff Avenue, a passenger in the Honda fired a round that hit the Pacheco in the torso, said Rego.
His wife and two sons, ages 3 and 4, were in the van but were unharmed.
Pacheco managed to stop the van on the side of the freeway and got out before he collapsed, Rego said. He later died at a hospital.
Anyone with information about the fatal shooting was asked to call Downey police at (562) 904-2308.

This is an excerpt of a Brian Day story running in tomorrow's newspaper. I think it enhances my theory that the world has turned into a giant game of Grand Theft Auto IV:

Three recent video game store robberies in which thieves seemed more interested in games, not cash, might be connected, authorities said Tuesday.

Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Major Crime Bureau are investigating a possible link between robberies at GameStop locations in Rosemead, Pico Rivera, and Bellflower that occurred between April 22 and Sunday, officials said.

The most recent incident was at a Rosemead GameStop store, located at 3000 San Gabriel Blvd., said sheriff's Sgt. Tri Hong.

Four robbers stole six PlayStation 3 video game systems and fled, said store manager Jovan Sanchez.

At least one handgun was used in the crime, Hong said.

Sanchez described the robbers as well-mannered and who said "please" as they demanded the video game systems.