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LA CRESCENTA -- A briefcase abandoned at an overpass led to all lanes of the 210 freeway being shut down for nearly an hour Monday.
Sheriff's Sgt. Randy Tuinstra said the sheriff's bomb squad determined it was empty.
He said a passing motorist spotted the briefcase on the Rosemont Avenue overpass near the eastbound 210 Freeway about 6 p.m. and called the California Highway Patrol. The CHP then notified the sheriff's Crescenta Valley Station.
Tuinstra said the bomb squad arrived with a robot and rendered the briefcase safe.
CHP Officer Anthony Martin said a SigAlert was issued at 6:18 p.m. and all freeway lanes were reopened at 7:12 p.m.
- By Staff Writer Ruby Gonzales

PASADENA -- A truck driver convicted in a crash that killed a man and his 12-year-old daughter begged forgiveness from the victims' family Thursday before receiving a prison sentence of more than seven years.
A Pasadena Superior Court jury found Marcos Barbosa Costa, 46, of Massachusetts, guilty in July of two counts of involuntary manslaughter as well as three counts of reckless driving causing injuries.
Costa was at the wheel of his car-hauling 18-wheeler when it lost its brakes on Angeles Crest Highway -- where large trucks are forbidden -- and collided with seven other cars and a bookstore just near Foothill Boulevard.
Angel "Jorge" Posca, 58, of Palmdale and his 12-year-old daughter, Angelina, were in a car that was struck by the big rig. They were killed instantly, and three other people suffered serous injuries in the massive crash.
Wearing a black suit and speaking through a Portuguese interpreter, Costa addressed the Posca family, who gathered in the courtroom wearing T-shirts with pictures of Angel and Angelina Posca.
"I know that each of you hates me today, but what I ask from all of you is forgiveness," Costa said. "I never meant to take the lives of anyone."
"I had nightmares and thought about the families and the moment I saw Angel Posca," Costa said.
"I wish, if I could, to have been in their place," he said. "I will always have this mark on my heart."
Costa, a minister, added that he's prayed for God to comfort the Posca family ever since the crash.
Costa faced a maximum sentence of nine years and four months in prison, however Judge Darrell Mavis handed down a sentence of seven years and four months behind bars.
Considering credits for 20 months already served in jail and good behavior, Costa will likely spend two years behind bars, said his attorney, Edward Murphy.
Murphy said he believed the sentence was "too harsh," but was still pleased with the result, considering Costa was initially charged, though acquitted by the jury, with two counts of murder and could have faced life in prison if convicted of those charges.
Prosecutor Carolina Lugo and members of the Posca family had urged the judge to impose the maximum sentence, saying Costa had ignored numerous warning that he should not proceed down Angeles Crest Highway.
"It's a small miracle that there weren't so many more deaths," Lugo said.
The defense argued that Costa should be sentenced to probation or time already served in jail, arguing that he posed no threat to the public and was not a dangerous criminal.
"This is a difficult position for the court to be in," Mavis said.
"The defendant appears to be a man who... before this incident, was living a life that was admirable," he said. Costa had no criminal record, was active as a minister and married for 22 years.
However, Mavis noted, a prison term was appropriate, "for the reason of the seriousness and the nature of this crime," and "based on the great violence and great bodily harm inflicted."
Family members shared memories of Angel and Angelina Posca and how the tragedy has affected them. Angelina was the youngest of seven children in the Posca family.
In a letter read aloud in court authored by Gionina Posca Alvarez, daughter of Angel Posca and sister of Angelina Posca, spoke of her sorrow.
"They both had magic about them. They were literally the center point of our lives," she said. "It's a tremendous tragedy for so many souls."
Giavana Posca, also a daughter of Angel Posca and sister of Angelina Posca, shared memories of her lost loved ones.
"(Angel Posca) is such an inspirational man," she said. "He had so many more life lessons to teach, so many more stories to tell."
"When I think of Angelina, my heart rips to pieces," Giavana Posca continued. "She was such a special little girl... She was beautiful, intelligent, driven and giving. She never failed to surprise me with her wit and charm."
Angelina loved ballroom dancing and dreamed of being an actress, her sisters said.
Mavis denied a request from the defense to allow Costa -- whose been free on bail in recent months -- to delay the start of his sentence for one week to allow him to get his affairs in order.
He was ordered into custody immediately and led from the courtroom in handcuffs.
In addition to his sentence, Costa was ordered to pay $87,204 to a victim restitutions fund and $23,762 in restitution to the City of La Canada Flintridge.
The past two years and four months since the crash have been a trying time for the Posca family, Gionina Posca said.
"(But) we will prevail, because that's what our father would have wanted," she said. "That's how we were raised."

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- California Highway Patrol officials will field extra officers on Angeles Crest Highway Saturday in an effort to combat motorcycle-related deaths and injuries, authorities said.
"This scenic drive attracts all types of motorists, including a special appeal to motorcycle enthusiasts of all calibers," CHP officials said in a written statement. "Unfortunately, the Angeles Crest Highway has become known for its disproportionately high rate of motorcycle collisions resulting in fatal injuries."
The CHP recorded 10 motorcyclist deaths and 195 injuries on the highway between 2007 and 2009.
The extra enforcement campaign is being funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety.

From the Associated Press:

PASADENA -- Trial is winding down for a trucker charged with the deaths of a father and daughter killed by his runaway big rig in La Canada Flintridge.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office says closing arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday afternoon in Pasadena Superior Court in the murder and vehicular manslaughter trial of Marcos Costa.
Costa was hauling cars over the San Gabriel Mountains on April 1, 2009, when his brakes failed on the steep Angeles Crest Highway above La Canada Flintridge. The double-decker rig hit a car, killing Angel Posca and his daughter Angelina, of Palmdale, collided with four other vehicles and smashed into a bookstore and a nail salon, injuring three others.
Costa has maintained his innocence.

PASADENA -- A Tujunga man was charged Thursday with murdering his 33- year-old female cousin, whose body was left near the La Crescenta Avenue offramp of the westbound 210 Freeway.

Aram Sarukhanyan, 27, is accused of shooting Adrine Arzumanyan and then pointing a handgun at a civilian who tried to stop him after he allegedly dumped the victim's body alongside the freeway April 29.

Sarukhanyan was located a short time later on the southbound 2 Freeway with a self-inflicted gunshot wound that resulted in his hospitalization, authorities said.

He will be arraigned after he is released from the hospital, according to Deputy District Attorney Lee Mitchell.

Sarukhanyan is charged with one felony count each of murder and brandishing a firearm at a person in motor vehicle, along with the allegation that he personally used a handgun in the commission of Arzumanyan's shooting.

If convicted, he faces a maximum of more than 50 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office. 

Officials blame drivers distracted by gadgets for two separate injury crashes late Friday in Industry and early Saturday in La Canada Flintridge.
A man suffered a broken ankle about 8:50 p.m. Friday when he crashed into a telephone pole at Baldwin Park Boulevard and Temple Avenue in Industry, Lt. Steve Katz said in a written statement.
The man told deputies he dropped his cell phone while driving and leaned over to retrieve it, the lieutenant said.
"In doing so, the vehicle veered toward the curb and struck a telephone pole," Katz said.
The crash brought live electrical wires down into the street, officials said, however electrical service and traffic signals were unaffected. A Southern California Edison crew was summoned to repair the damage.
About five hours later, a 22-year-old man was hospitalized with major injuries when he crashed his car while sending a text message on the westbound 210 Freeway near Foothill Boulevard, California Highway Patrol Officer Ed Jacobs said.
"He was texting while driving," he said. "His wife or girlfriend received the text a minute after the crash came out."
The car swerved across westbound lanes, hit the center divider and overturned, Jacobs said.
The driver was taken Huntington Hospital in Pasadena for treatement of injuries that were believed to be life-threatening, officials said.

LA CAÑADA FLINRTRIDGE -- Sheriff's deputies arrested a Pasadena man and an Altadena teen Tuesday after they broke into a woman's house, then one of them rammed her car with their own, authorities said.
Ricardo Lopez, 19, of Pasadena, was booked on suspicion of burglary and assault with a deadly weapon, while a 17-year-old Altadena boy was suspected of burglary, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Robert Blume said.
A 54-year-old woman arrived home about 10:45 a.m. and found the suspects inside her house, the lieutenant said.
When Lopez saw the woman was dialing 9-1-1, he ran out to his truck and charged toward the woman's car, Blume said.
"The truck scraped against passenger side of the victim's car," he said, then drove away.
Stolen from the home was four laptop computers and other electronics, Blume said.
The teenage suspect, who was left behind in the scuffle, was found nearby walking on Foothill Boulevard with the help of tips from neighbors, officials said.
Deputies found Lopez sitting in the car believed to have been involved in the incident parked near his home in Pasadena, Blume said. Lopez was arrested, and deputies discovered items allegedly stolen from the house in La Cañada Flintridge inside Lopez's home.
According to sheriff's booking records, Lopez was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and was due for arraignment Thursday in Pasadena Superior Court.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- The sheriff's Crescenta Valley Station was briefly evacuated Thursday evening after a faulty air conditioning unit filled the building with smoke, authorities said.
The smoke was first reported at 6:42 p.m. at the sheriff's station, 4554 Briggs Ave. in La Crescenta, Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch supervisor Michael Pittman said.
The building was evacuated and emergency calls were re-routed to the sheriff's Temple Station, sheriff's Sgt. Richard Conti said.
A single inmate being housed in the Crescenta Valley Station jail was secured in a police car during the incident, he added, and Crescenta Valley deputies continued their usual patrols.
The malfunctioning air conditioner bellowed smoke in to the station, though there was no actual fire, officials said.
Firefighters were ventilating the building around 7:30 p.m., and operations at the station were expected to return to normal later Thursday evening.

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- A man robbed a bank Friday, but left the cash behind after a dye pack exploded, authorities said.
The crime occurred just after noon at the Citizens Business Bank, 858 Foothill Blvd., Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Robert Blume said.
The robber entered the bank and presented a note to a teller, he said. The note demanded cash and claimed the man had a weapon.
After receiving some cash from a teller, the robber left the bank. A dye pack concealed in the money exploded as the robber exited the bank, and he abandoned the stolen cash.
He was last seen getting into an unknown getaway car, Blume added.
Officials described the robber as a white man in his 50s or 60s with a white mustache and bushy hair. He wore a blue striped shirt and a white baseball cap.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's Crescenta Valley Station at 818-248-3464.

From Thom Mrozek:

LOS ANGELES - A La Cañada woman who sold fake art - including works purported to be by Picasso, Dali and Chagall - through a rigged televised art auction has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison.

Kristine Eubanks, 52, was sentenced late yesterday by United States District Judge Gary A. Feess, who said that the fraud scheme was "audacious in its scope" and "blatantly illegal."

The scam, run through a company called Fine Art Treasures Gallery, falsely told customers that art sold on the company's television show had been found at "estate liquidations all over the world." Instead, Eubanks and others sold fake and forged art that they had bought from suppliers, as well as forgeries they had printed themselves and signed on behalf of the artists. The scam brought in well over $20 million from more than 10,000 victims across the country.

Eubanks pleaded guilty in April 2007 to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and to filing a false income tax return. Through this company, Eubanks and her conspirators operated an art auction television show, which aired on Friday and Saturday nights on DirecTV and The Dish Network, and sold art to customers around the United States. Eubanks and her husband, Gerald Sullivan, ran the scheme from 2002 through 2006.

Eubanks admitted that she obtained fake art from various suppliers, and printed other art works in her own printing shop, and sold that bogus art on the auction as genuine. Eubanks and others forged signatures on some of the works, including purported lithographs from Picasso, Chagall and Dali. To support the scam, Eubanks also forged Certificates of Authenticity for certain pieces and provided falsified appraisals for some of the jewelry that was sold to customers. Eubanks and others also rigged the bidding for the auction process by arranging for fake bids to be announced on the program to falsely drive up prices for the art they sold to the public.

Eubanks' husband, Gerald Sullivan, 54, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and interstate transportation of stolen property. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Feess on May 24, at which time he faces a statutory maximum sentence of six years in federal prison.

As part of the investigation into Fine Arts, federal authorities seized approximately $3.8 million from bank accounts controlled by Eubanks and Sullivan. Those funds have been forfeited to the government, which is in the process of notifying thousands of potential victims that they may have purchased bogus artworks.

This case was investigated by the national Art Crime Team at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS-Criminal Investigation, and the Los Angeles Police Department's Art Theft Detail.