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Several fires broke out Tuesday in a densely populated area of Diamond Bar along the 60 freeway.

Super Scoopers have already attacked the blazes. it is uncertain how many homes are threatened. Fire seems to be rapidly moving through brush along hte 60 freeway. A smoke plume is visible from our office here in West Covina.

Here's a Google Map of the area:



View Diamond Ranch Fire in a larger map

DIAMOND BAR -- A 70-year-old woman died and a 73-year-old man was hospitalized Sunday after their car crashed on the 60 Freeway, authorities said.
The name of the dead woman was not released Sunday pending notification of his family, coroner's officials said.
The crash was reported shortly before 3 p.m. in the eastbound lanes of the freeway, just west of Phillips Ranch Road, California Highway Patrol officials said in a written statement.
For unknown reasons, officials said, a 2003 Toyota Camry being driven by the man went off the road and crashed into the concrete center divider, causing major damage to the front of the car.
The woman died of her injuries, while the man was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center with moderate injuries, according to the CHP. Both were from Moreno Valley.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation by the Santa Fe Springs office of the CHP.

Following the passage of a bill designed to cut $1.2 billion from the California prison system by releasing felons early, along with other measures, State Senator Bob Huff, R-Diamond Bar, fired off a scathing criticism of his democratic counterparts.

The bill passed by a margin of 21-19 Thursday, and still faces a vote in the State Assembly. Four democrats opposed the bill, along with all republicans, according to the Associated Press.

"Sending thousands and thousands of inmates home in an early release line up places California families in grave danger," Huff said in a written statement. "There is no doubt that the state's prison system is collapsing, but there are more reasonable and respobsible ways in which to save money."

According to the AP:

If also approved by the Assembly, the governor's proposal would release or divert from state prisons 27,000 inmates in the current fiscal year and another 10,000 in the fiscal year that begins next July.

It would do so through a range of measures:

• Inmates with less than 12 months to serve, who are over age 60 or who are medically incapacitated could be released from prison and given home detention with electronic monitoring.

• Sentences for certain property crimes will be lowered to misdemeanors, meaning convicts won't have to spend time in prison. Those include vehicle theft, petty theft with a prior conviction, receiving stolen property and check-kiting, a scam that primarily targets banks with fraudulent deposits.

• Allow more inmates to gain early release by completing educational, vocational or substance abuse rehabilitation programs.

• Ease supervision for thousands of parolees, making it more difficult to send them back to prison for violations.

"This law," Huff said, "undermines California's Three Strikes Law and aids in the release of 27,000 'non-violent' criminals."

He added that the definition of 'non-violent criminal' is "deeply flawed," and would allow people convicted of crimes such as elder abuse, stalking and identity theft to be eligible for early release.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

DIAMOND BAR -- Authorities jailed a Diamond Bar man and seized five area houses from him after he was arrested on suspicion of eight counts of workers' compensation insurance premium fraud, officials said.
Joseph Baiden, 56, surrendered to investigators Tuesday, California Department of Insurance officials said.
According to sheriff's booking records, Baiden posted $1 million bail later in the day and was released.
According to CDI officials, Baiden allegedly underreported about $20 million in payroll in order to fraudulently reduce his worker's compensation insurance payments. The estimated loss to the CDI is $1.4 million.
In a written statement, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner said said Baiden was apparently using the profits of the fraud to enrich himself.
"It appears that Baiden was living a lavish life-style due to ill-gotten gains," Poizner said.
Following the investigation, he added, "the walls supporting his fraudulent schemes have come crashing down on him."
Investigators seized five properties in Diamond Bar and Pomona from Baiden and froze his bank accounts and assets.
A phone number listed in public records as that of Baiden's most recent home was disconnected Wednesday.
The properties seized were his primary home in Diamond Bar, 2710 Wagon Train Lane, two other homes in Diamond Bar, 2206 Rusty Pump Road and 868 Sunset Place, a vacant residential lot on Derringer Lane in Diamond Bar and a home in Pomona, 19 Pala Mesa Drive, CDI officials said. They are valued at about $4 million.
The investigation as launched after officials received an anonymous tip, CDI officials said.
The alleged fraud occurred between 2001 and 2007, when Baiden was running a Los Angeles-based company called Nurse Connection, Inc., authorities added.
According to the company's Web site, the business provides nurses and other medical professionals to health care providers.
The Nurse Connection, Inc., Web site also boasts "the industry's leading benefit package" for it's employees.
Baiden is due in Los Angeles Superior Court for arraignment on Aug. 28, records show.
If convicted on all charges, authorities said, Baiden faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in state prison and a $3.2 million fine.

*PHOTO of Joseph Baiden courtesy of the California Department of Insurance

DIAMOND BAR -- Deputies arrested five men who barricaded themselves inside a home for more than two hours Friday.
The standoff began about 6 p.m. at a house near Northview and Armitos places, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Mario Estrada said.
A 33-year-old man who lived at the home was arrested on suspicion of resisting arrest, an outstanding bench warrant for drunken driving and a domestic violence incident that occurred earlier in the day in another jurisdiction, the sergeant said.
Four other men, all in their 20s, were also jailed on suspicion of resisting arrest.
Estrada declined to release the names of the suspects Saturday, citing an "ongoing investigation."
Deputies responded to the house after a neighbor reported hearing arguing and what sounded like gunshots coming from another home in the neighborhood, Estrada said.
Officials found the 33-year-old man in the backyard of his home, yelling and throwing items around, he said.
The man refused deputies orders to talk to them, Estrada said, and instead barricaded himself inside the house.
After about two hours, the four younger men emerged from the house and surrendered to police, he said. The fifth man surrendered without further incident about half an hour later. No gun was found inside the home.

Authorities jailed an apologetic man Wednesday who said he carried out a robbery spree spanning the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire to pay his son's drug debts.
John Richard Boynton, 39, of Fontana is suspected in at least nine robberies or attempted robberies throughout the region, including a bank robbery in Temple City and a failed robbery at a Diamond Bar bank, officials said.
"He said he was sorry," Detective Gerald Wright of the sheriff's Walnut/Diamond Bar Station said.
Local investigators have linked Boynton to a Wednesday bank robbery at a Bank of the West branch in Temple City, as well as an attempted robbery at a Tomato Bank in Diamond Bar on Monday.
In addition, Boynton is suspected of five robberies in a 24-hour period in Rialto, Highland and Fontana on June 26, a robbery at the Pacific Western Bank in Chino on July 3 and July 7 robbery of a Hilton Hotel gift shop in Ontario, authorities said.
Boynton admitted the robberies and told investigators he was in financial trouble and needed to help his son pay drug debts, officials said.
In the Temple City and Diamond Bar crimes, Boynton carried a gun, demanded money with a note and brought a plastic bag to place the stolen money in, Wright said.
Police arrested Boynton near his Fontana home about 4 p.m. Wednesday after the Chino Department Crime Analysis Unit identified him as a suspect in recent robberies,authorities said.
Members of the Chino police Special Enforcement Team made the arrest without a struggle as he tried to drive away from his house.
Boynton was being held at the San Bernardino County West Valley Detention Center.

*Above: Police say an image from a surveillance camera during the July 8 robbery at the Bank of the West in Temple City depicts serial robbery suspect John Boynton, 39, of Fontana. (Courtesy of the FBI)

DIAMOND BAR -- Officials responded to a report of a toddler having trouble breathing after slipping underwater in a spa Saturday at the home of Cordozar Calvin Broadus, Jr., better known as rapper, "Snoop Dogg."
The child, a 3-year-old boy, was hospitalized as a precaution but appeared to be doing fine, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said.
The incident was reported shortly after 10 p.m. in a gated community in the 2300 block of Alamo Heights Drive, sheriff's and fire officials said.
The home is listed in public records as that of the rapper.
The child apparently briefly slipped under water in a spa, and someone became concerned and called for help, fire officials said.
The boy was in his mother's arms, breathing and conscious, when firefighters arrived, authorities added.
Fire officials said Broadus did not appear to be at the home.

DIAMOND BAR -- Two men fled with an undisclosed amount of money Thursday after one of them robbed a Radio Shack store at gunpoint, authorities said.
The incident occurred about 7:15 p.m. at the store located at 2785 S. Diamond Bar Blvd., Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Mike Browne said.
After using a semi-automatic handgun to hold up the store, the robber met up with a second suspect in the parking lot and the two fled northbound on foot, Browne said.
Witness accounts indicated the men may have gotten into a getaway car, he added.
The gunman was described as a Latino man, between 18 and 25 years old and standing about 5 feet, 8 inches tall, the lieutenant said. He wore a grey sweat shirt and blue jeans.
The second suspect was described as a Latino man between 25 and 30 years old, wearing a black jacket, a black hat and a backpack, Browne said.
The robbers may have stolen merchandise from the store in addition to cash from the register, he said.

Few details were available Saturday regarding the shooting death of a Diamond Bar man in Pomona. Here's the story so far:

A Diamond Bar man was shot to death late Friday after reportedly waving a handgun at people at a nearby party, authorities said.
Marquis Leblanc, 18, died at the scene of the shooting, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Jerry McKibben said.
The incident occurred about 11:25 p.m. in the 2200 block of Virginia Avenue, Pomona police said in a written statement.
A motive in the shooting was not clear Saturday, police added, and no suspect description was available.
Anyone with information is asked to call the Pomona Police Department's tip line at (909) 620-2085.

Reporter Daniel Tedford reports live from a press conference in Santa Ana on Thursday's crash in Fullerton that left three people, including an Angel's pitcher and a Diamond Bar woman, dead.

FULLERTON -- Officials charged a suspected drunken driver involved in a crash that killed Angels' pitcher Nick Adenhart and two other people with murder Friday.
Andrew Gallo, 22, of San Bernardino, was charged with three counts of murder, in addition to other charges including vehicular manslaughter, drunken driving and felony hit-and-run, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said.
The D.A. added that Gallo's blood-alcohol level was more than three times above the legal limit following the crash.
Because Gallo had a previous conviction for drunken driving, Rackauckas said Gallo's behavior showed "gross malice and disregard," and therefore warrants murder charges.
Adenhart and the others killed in the crash, Henry Pearson, 25, of Manhattan Beach Courtney Stewart, 20, of Diamond Bar, were believed to be headed toward an area nightclub in a Mitsubishi Eclipse when they were struck by a minivan being driven by Gallo, officials said.
Gallo allegedly ran a red light prior to the crash, officials added.
A fourth person inside the Eclipse, 24-year-old John Wilhite of Manhattan Beach, remained in critical condition and unable to speak Friday, though Rackauckas said his condition was improving.
Fullerton police Lt. Kevin Hamilton said the minivan Gallo was driving in was registered to his father and step-mother.
He added that during the hours of interrogation of Gallo police conducted Thursday, he did not appear to show any remorse.
"It was a matter of fact conversation," Hamilton said.

This from Capitol Weekly:

"Thank goodness we weren't in lockdown last night."

Those were the words of freshman Assemblyman Curt Hagman, who pulled two people from a burning car in downtown Sacramento at 8:30 p.m. Monday evening. Moments later, the vehicle exploded.

Hagman, R-Chino Hills, said he was in his apartment near 5th and N when he heard a crash outside.

He went downstairs to investigate and saw that a car had struck a parked pickup truck The car's doors were jammed shut, and two people were trapped inside.

Hagman helped the male driver and his female passenger from the car. The driver immediately ran off, and the woman was found later to have a blood-alcohol level of .33, Hagman said, about four times the legal limit for a driver in California

I want to see professional football return to Los Angeles.

But then, sometime Wednesday morning, I broke out in a cold sweat and began pondering a problem, "What if it's the Raiders?"

It got me thinking about broken down Winnebagos parked in ritzy Diamond Bar and Walnut neighborhoods; grungy bikers up and down Grand Avenue and Diamond Bar Boulevard, drunken orgies, beatings and empty bottles of Jack Daniels lining gutters on peaceful streets with names like Quail Summit or Snow Creek Drive.

I remember a tailgate party a few years back outside the Oakland Coliseum just before a game between the Raiders and the Buccaneers. Guys riding Harleys and Indians rumbled down Hegenberger Road and 66th Street, waving flags and shouting.

I can only imagine the shivers that course up and down the spines of the Casper Milquetoasts and other timid souls who came to Diamond Bar and Walnut seeking refuge from the madness of the big city.

Then came the visions of fans of all ethnicities clad in silver and black tossing back Mad Dog 20/20, Old English or Colt .45 malt liquors, bumping hip hop at full volume and generally terrorizing anyone wearing Steelers or Chargers or Broncos gear.

Actually, I remember covering a game back in 1990 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where Raiders fans nearly beat a Steelers fan to death.

The hapless victim had been circling the stadium waving a GameDay program emblazoned with the Steelers three-diamond logo and shouting "Steelers! Steelers!"

When a guy from Agoura Hills was hauled into court and charged with assault, his attorney blamed the Raiders.

The attorney wasn't alone, Hunter S. Thompson once described Darth Vader as a "punk compared to (Raider owner) Al Davis."

In any event, the Raiders blamed beer and shut off booze sales the next week when the team played Seattle. LAPD officers patrolled the Coliseum armed with binoculars and ultimately kept the peace.

The next time I saw the Steelers and Raiders it was in Oakland. I was sitting in the end zone seats affectionately referred to as "Black Hole." I sat behind "Darth Raider" and pretty near a guy wearing a grim reaper outfit and skull mask.

Some idiot with long blond hair and a day job sat in front of all of us. He took to waiving the Steelers trademark "Terrible Towel" in a ritual reminiscent of a suicidal matador surrounded by angry bulls.

"Fool," I thought. I'm pretty sure he was beaten in the parking lot after the Steelers won 29-10.

Perhaps my apprehension is misguided.

"You also have to take into consideration its Oakland," Industry Sheriff's Sgt. Thomas Watson said. "It's not San Francisco and not the city of Industry. If it's the Raiders who come here, especially with the kind of pressure they are going to be under, they are going to be taking great pains to fit in the community."

Whew. So much for that.

I can root for the Cardinals in peace on Super Sunday.

Here's some items we've been following Monday that haven't already been mentioned on this blog:

* DIAMOND BAR -- A man was flown to a trauma center in critical condition Monday after a rollover crash on the 57 Freeway.
* PICO RIVERA -- Two robbers used a handgun Monday to hold up a local bank branch.
* HACIENDA HEIGHTS -- A woman escaped with more than $3,000 Monday after robbing a Bank of America branch.
* COVINA - A woman was pushed to the ground and robbed of her purse in the parking lot of a supermarket Monday, authorities said.
* WEST COVINA -- Two robbers escaped with an unknown amount of cash after robbing a restaurant Monday, police said.
* POMONA -- A 46-year-old man who was killed in a Pomona apartment was identified Monday, and police asked for the public's help to find the man who shot him.

As City News Service reports below, a Diamond Bar man was one of two men suspected of using dead people's information to file false tax returns and collect refund checks:

DIAMOND BAR- Two Southland men, including one from Diamond Bar, were charged with multiple tax fraud counts for allegedly using dead people's identities and Social Security numbers to file fake income tax returns -- with claims totaling more than $2 million dollars, prosecutors announced today.
Ather Ali of Diamond Bar and Haroon Amin of Upland were indicted by a federal grand jury in Riverside Wednesday on 50 counts of making false claims against the United
States and other charges, according to IRS officials.
Between 2002 and 2003, Ali and Amin allegedly filed roughly 250 income tax returns showing refunds due to individuals federal investigators later determined to be deceased, the federal indictment alleges.
The IRS rejected a number of the false claims, which totaled more than $2 million, but some refund checks were distributed, according to IRS special agent Michael Moriarty.
He did not specify exactly how much the defendants allegedly swindled from the government.
The indictment indicates Ali and Amin, with unnamed co-conspirators, were able to prepare fictitious W-2 wage and tax statements using employer identification numbers that "Amin had obtained from an acquaintance who was a certified public accountant."
Federal investigators said the defendants gleaned Social Security numbers and names of dead people from the Internet, applied the information to income tax returns and filed for refunds.
The defendants allegedly arranged to have the refund checks that were distributed sent to locations controlled by Amin and Ali, who allegedly opened mailbox accounts at commercial outlets using false forms of identification, according to the government.
Most of the checks were deposited in bank accounts in Armenia and Pakistan, the government said.
Amin is charged with 22 counts of making false claims against the United States, conspiracy and making and subscribing a false tax return in his own name.
Ali faces 25 counts of making false claims against the United States, as well as making and
subscribing a false tax return in his name and conspiracy.
"Refunds are issued to taxpayers who are entitled to them," said Eileen Mayer, IRS chief of criminal investigations, in response to the indictment against the pair. "The IRS and Department of Justice will continue to aggressively pursue those who file false tax returns to claim refunds for which they are not entitled."
The defendants each face more than 100 years in prison and fines totaling $750,000 if convicted on all charges, according to the IRS.