LA PUENTE — An 81-year-old man died after being struck by a vehicle Saturday, authorities said.
Santos Silva of La Puente died in the crash, which took place about 7:20 p.m. at Amar Road and Sunset Avenue, Los Angeles County coroner’s officials said.
Paramedics found the man lying unresponsive in the street and attempted to resuscitate him without success, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. James Beamon said. The elderly pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
Beamon said the investigation was ongoing, and no further details regarding the circumstances of the collision or the vehicle involved were available.

LA PUENTE — A man’s body was found Saturday on Main Street near City Hall, however little information was available.
Investigators were summoned to the 15900 block of Main Street about 10:35 a.m. to investigate the death, Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
The name of the man, who appeared to be in his 50s, was not available pending positive identification and notification of family, coroner’s officials said.
Sheriff’s officials described the man as a transient.
There was nothing overtly suspicious at the scene, however homicide detectives were called in to rule out the possibility of foul play, Lt. James Beamon said.
No further details were released.

Prosecutors Tuesday filed charges against three teenage boys accused of sexually assaulting four fellow students as part of a hazing ritual among soccer players at La Puente High School, authorities said.
The two 17-year-old boys and one 16-year-old boy, whose names are not being released due to their ages, are due to appear for arraignment Nov. 19 in Pomona Juvenile Court, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office spokeswoman Jane Robison said. They have been released to the custody of their parents pending their court proceedings.
“The D.A. charging these kids validates the fact that my clients were sexually assaulted,” said attorney Brian Claypool, who is representing the alleged victims in a civil claim against the Hacienda-La Puente Unified School District. “They didn’t make this up.”
A fourth teen, now-18-years-old, was initially cited along with the other three suspects, however prosecutors found declined to file a case against him, citing insufficient evidence to support charges, Robison said.
The allegations stem from reported incidents of sexual hazing against four fellow students between April and August, officials said. In the incidents, older La Puente High School soccer players are accused of sodomizing and trying to sodomize younger players with a javeline.
The two 17-year-old suspects were charged with 10 counts each, including sexual penetration with a foreign object, assault with a deadlyt weapon, four counts of sexual battery and four counts of hazing, according to the district attorney’s office.
They are suspected of attacking three of the four victims, Lt. Carlos Marquez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Victims Bureau said.
The 16-year-old suspect was charged with six counts including sexual penetration with a foreign object, assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of sexual battery and two counts of hazing, Robison said.
He was believed to be involved in attacking one of the victims, Marquez added.
But even with criminal charges filed against three suspects in the alleged sexual assault, “This is just the beginning of the process,” Claypool said. “It’s just the beginning of learning the whole story.
Claypool said that he believed the coach responsible for the players had knowledge of the abuse, if not involvement.
Two of the unidenfified victims reported being lured into a room by the coach prior to the assaults, while another reported the coach winked at one of the assailants immediately after an attack, Claypool said.
“I still believe this teacher/coach was involved in encouraging these kids to do it, directing them to do it and encouraging them to do it as part of a ritual,” the attorney said.
The attorney further alleged that district administrators turned a blind eye to the issue.
Despite Claypool’s assertions, however, “We don’t have any evidence to support any allegations against the teacher,” Marquez said.
District Superintendant Barbara Nakaoka declined to comment on the charges.
“We have no comment on the investigation,” she said. “We’re just conceentrating on making sure our students have a very safe environment, and making sure we focus our attention on their education.”
Claypool said he was optimistic that more information would emerge regarding the roles played by district officials and administrators as evidence in the cases against the teenage suspects continues surface in the coming weeks and months.
“Maybe this will give the impetus to the sheriff’s (department) and the D.A. to take a closer look,” he said.
Claypool said his investigation has revealed that incidents of sexual hazing such as the ones that recently became public may have been going on for years at La Puente High School — an allegation detectives said they are looking into.
At least two of the suspects charged in the case were victimized in a similar manner themselves in previous years, Claypool said.
“That’s the tragedy in all of this,” he said. “These boys were victimized, too.”
The case was expected to remain in juvenile court, Robison said. “We are not seeking to try them as adults.”
The juvenile judicial process differs from adult criminal proceedings in several ways, Robison explained. Juvenile trials are held before a judge, not a jury, and are not open to the public.
Judges in juvenile cases generally have more discretion when it comes to sentencing young offenders if found guilty, ranging from probation to incarceration in juvenile hall.
Meanwhile, Claypool said the school district last week rejected a civil claim he filed on behalf of the alleged victims. He planned to file a lawsuit next week.

LA PUENTE — Deputies arrested a man Saturday after he threatened and brandished a shotgun at two teenage boys during an argument, officials said.
The suspects name was not available Saturday afternoon pending the booking process, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Richard Shear said. The man, who appeared to be in his 50s, was expected to be booked on suspicion of making criminal threats and brandishing a firearm.
The man is a resident of a mobile home park in the 300 block of North Sunset Avenue, the lieutenant said.
He became involved in an argument across a fence with two teenage boys who were in a neighboring apartment complex about 1 p.m., Shear said.
During the dispute, the man made threatening statements toward the boys and brandished a shotgun, he said.
Deputies responded, recovered the shotgun and arrested the suspect, according to Shear.

LA PUENTE – The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner is investigating the death of a man whose body was found at a local motel on Thursday.

Lt. Ray Enriquez of the sheriff’s Industry Station said deputies were called at 1:30 p.m. to the Budget Inn at 15412 Francisquito Ave.

The dead man was identified Friday as Ismael Gonzales, 56, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.

An autopsy was planned to determined Gonzalez’s cause of death, Winter said, however there were not outward signs of trauma on the body and the death was initially reported to investigators as possibly natural.

There were no further details.

- Staff report