Today’s column

The suspected killer of a Diamond Bar man was captured last week when the City Council decided to pour extra funds into a homicide investigation.

Not only did detectives end up nabbing Jae Yi, 24, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pasasouk, 23, both of Rancho Cucamonga, they also put 18 suspected burglars behind bars in connection with 22 burglaries.

Not a bad day’s work.

Many of those arrested were part of a ring targeting Indians and Asians, officials said.

Yi and Pasasouk are facing a variety of charges stemming from the murder of Panalal Shah, who died during the burglary of his home Dec. 4

As for the rest of the group, none has been charged with burglary – yet. Most were picked up on violations ranging from outstanding warrants to probation and parole violations.

Even so, state Justice Department Assistant Chief Jerry Hunter’s description of the ring was the most telling.

“There are killers and ruthless burglars who terrorized the San Gabriel Valley for months,” Hunter said.

Perhaps it’s time for Monrovia and Duarte to pull a page from the Diamond Bar playbook.

Monrovia and Duarte have been faced with a form of terrorism themselves – and not just over recent weeks. Commenters on the Crime Scene Blog say racial tension and gang violence have been routine in area neighborhoods for years.

Even Monrovia Chief of Police Roger Johnson recognizes the problem.

“It’s not something that’s new,” Johnson said last week. “It’s something that’s continuing for the foreseeable future until we’re able to bring under control the gang violence that’s occurring in this particular neighborhood.”

But the bangers aren’t targeting each other this time. The gangs have turned on innocents who happen to be the wrong color.

One of those victims was Sanders “Pete” Rollins, 64, who was killed yards from the front door of his home on Sherman Avenue.

To its credit, the Monrovia Police Department coordinates an anti-gang task force with deputies from Duarte. But clearly, there is either no money to run the suppression full time or not enough personnel to staff the project, which is known as DAMAGE – Duarte and Monrovia Anti Gang Enforcement.

And, Johnson said his department has been providing additional patrols to the neighborhood.

But clearly, it was more than patrols and well-established units that solved Shah’s murder.

After they secured the overtime money from the Diamond Bar City Council, detectives and patrol deputies worked across jurisdictional lines to crack the case.

They worked their informant network and known fences, and identified most of the known second-story men from Corona to Hacienda Heights.

After that, detectives got warrants and recovered stolen property ranging from passports to savings bonds.

In Monrovia on Monday, no one was available at the police station to talk about the Rollins investigation. It’s not clear if they’ve employed any of the same techniques.

There was also no one on hand to address the ongoing spate of racial violence that claimed the life of one black man, Rollins, and severely wounded a black teen earlier the same weekend.

Why?

“Off for the holiday,” according to one

dispatcher.

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Tagger Krisis

Industry sheriffs deputies and transit police raided a Long Beach apartment early Thursday and arrested what they described as “one of Southern California’s most prolific taggers:” Carlos “Krisis” Perez, 23, of Long Beach.

Perez, a suspected member of the East Side Longos sureno gang is being held in a county lockup in lieu of $100,000, sheriff’s Deputy Brian Sanford said.

Krisis was targeted for arrest after tagging a soundwall on the 60 Freeway near Wilson High School, Sanford said.

Part of the investigation involved locating Krisis’ MySpace page then monitoring the IP address of its owner (probably with MySpace’s permission). Then tracking down the IP.

There’s no court date set for Krisis yet.

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Puente 13 associate “Pee Wee” a wanted man

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 Homicide detectives said Wednesday the composite image they released earlier this year in connection with the March 2006 murder of Robert Whitehead, 44, of West Valinda, is a pretty good match for 18-year-old Robert Lopez, of La Puente.

Lopez, aka “Pee Wee” is apparently “the third man” involved in the case. On Tuesday the Sheriff’s Department announced the capture of Anthony Castillo. He was taken into custody after an early morning raid at a home in Azusa. Castillo is being held without bail and is expected to be arraigned Thursday morning in West Covina.

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Not gang related after all

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It turns out that Pasadena police characterized a murder as “gang-related” when in fact it may not have been.
You can bet that jumping to an early conclusion about the nature of the murder of Jamal Tims has made it less likely the case will be solved anytime soon.
Most homicide investigators believe tat murders are solved int he 24-hours immediately after they occur.
Here’s an excerpt from the story by Molly R. Okeon:

PASADENA – Police now believe that the murder of a 28-year-old Pasadena man late last month was not gang-related but person in nature, though officials could not elaborate due to the ongoing nature of the investigation.
Jamal Lewis Tims was shot to death around 6:30 a.m. Sept. 28 in the 500 block of North Mentor Avenue.
“It appears to be personal,” said Pasadena police spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens.
She said while no suspects have been arrested, detectives are “working on active leads.”
Tims’ shooting death was the second of two that occurred in the last week of September in the city’s northwest section.

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Bolen Parque Suicide

Jennifer McLain is set to report on a suicide that followed a gun battle Tuesday in Bolen. Apparently police responding to a domestic dispute instead encountered a gang member with a gun. Shots were exchanged. The gang member missed cops and the cops missed the gang banger, according to officials.
Somehow the gang banger slipped into a back room of the house and committed suicide before cops could reach him.
We’ll have more as it develops.

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Notes from friends of Chris Boo K. Lee

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Since putting together a follow up story on the stabbing death of Chris Boo K. Lee, I have received several emails and phone calls from friends and family of Lee’s who want to share their memories of Lee.
Here’s a sampling from one letter sent Wednesday evening: (I’m keeping the writer anonymous and have edited this slightly)

Hello Frank, regarding your article today about Chris, it is good to know that your doing your job and made those names public. It is unfortunate to hear that the gangmembers that were arrested … were released for a reason I do not know yet. I am a very close friend of Chris and I can personally tell you that Chris was not a gangmember. … The last 7 years i have known him he has always been a good student, helpful to his family, and a very loyal friend.

In Wednesday’s article, homicide detectives said they were searching for an Arcadia teen identified as Paul Kim.
A former friend of Kim’s, who identified himself as “riceboy” sent a brief note as well:

yeah paul used to be my best friend till he became stupid

We are pushing for Kim’s mugshot to be released and any additional information detectives might have in the case.

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PV vs BxA : Gang war in Pico Rivera

Whittier Daily News reporter Ruby Gonzales put together a nice piece on the rise of the Brown Authority gang in Pico Rivera, which ran in Sunday’s paper. The competitor put together a piece of their own that ran today with a look at Brown Authority; it’s rise from humble origins, the gangs’ ongoing power struggle with Pico Vieja; and ties to the community at large in Pico Rivera.

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