Recently in La Verne Category

LOS ANGELES -- A serial robber pleaded guilty to six bank heists which included banks in Pasadena and La Verne.
Ernest Viana, who was dubbed by the FBI as the "Tri-Cities Bandit", entered his plea Tuesday at a Los Angeles federal court.
He will be sentenced March 12, according to court document.
His alleged accomplice and getaway driver, 42-year-old Oleg Gorokhovsky, has a trial set for Jan. 10.
The FBI gave the moniker because the bandit initially robbed banks in Pasadena, Glendale and Burbank. He started robbing banks in June and presented tellers a note demanding large bills.
Viana was charged with 10 bank robberies and two attempted robberies in communities that included Pasadena, Los Angeles, Chino Hills, La Verne and Glendale. Court documents estimated the amount taken at $21,229.
Viana and Gorokhovsky were arrested by deputies after robbing the First California Bank in Westlake Village on Aug. 19.
- From Staff Writer Ruby Gonzales

POMONA -- A single-engine airplane en route to Brackett Field in La Verne crashed at the Pomona Fairplex Friday, killing the pilot, authorities said.
The airplane, identified by Federal Aviation Administration officials as a Mooney M20M, "crashed under unknown circumstances around 2:15 p.m. approximately 1 mile southeast of Brackett Field, near the Pomona Fairgrounds," FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said in a written statement.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene, Los Angeles County Fire Department officials said. No other injuries were reported.
The airplane crashed near the southeast corner of the grandstands at the Fairplex's racetrack, officials added. The crash did not ignite a fire.
The aircraft's marking indicated it was registered to a Pasadena law firm.
Friday's incident was the second fatal small plane crash near Brackett Field in recent years.
Husband and wife Charles and Renee Shaffer of La Verne died March 14, 2009, when their Piper Dakota suddenly lost altitude and went down in Pomona shortly after take-off from Brackett Field.
The couple's plane crashed into a hillside near the 2600 block of Pomona Boulevard, about 2 miles from the scene of Friday's crash.

NORWALK -- A La Verne man received a sentence of 40 years to life in prison Tuesday for shooting another man in the head in an unincorporated county area near Whittier, court officials said.
Carlos Humberto Ramirez, 44, was convicted earlier this year of the February 2009 shooting of then-29-year-old Danny Rodriguez of Glendale on Esperanza Avenue
Rodriguez was sitting in the back seat of a car, which Ramirez opened fire on, when he was struck in the head by gunfire, authorities said. No one else was injured.
Ramirez was convicted of attempted murder, shooting at an occupied vehicle and being a felon in possession of a gun.

LA VERNE -- Police and sheriff's officials arrested a Redlands man Saturday after he led them on a brief pursuit in a stolen car, authorities said.
Daniel Meininger, 31, was booked on suspicion of auto theft, evading police and reckless driving, La Verne police Sgt. Carlton Williams said.
An officer tried to pull Meininger over for a traffic violation about 10:45 a.m. in the 1900 block of Arrow Highway, Williams said.
Meininger refused to pull over and led officials on a chase into San Dimas, the sergeant said, ultimately crashing into a retaining wall in the 900 block of S. Walnut Avenue and continuing to flee on foot.
Officers and deputies set up a search perimeter, he said. Meininger made his way back into La Verne and was spotted in a flood control channel near the 1400 block of Arrow Highway.
Meininger surrendered without a struggle, Williams said.
It was determined that the car Meininger was driving had been reported stolen in Fontana.

Officials arrested nine people Thursday, including two San Gabriel Valley residents, on suspicion of stealing money from both the Medi-Cal system and senior citizens.
The alleged scam involved employees of Montclair-based Community Extended Care Hospital and their associates who are accused of stealing more than $150,000 from patients and defrauding Medi-Cal, California Department of Justice officials said in a written statement.
"This scam ripped off both senior citizens and our desperately needed public health funds," California Attorney General Jerry Brown. "These thieves callously stole thousands of state dollars meant to be spent on seniors in this skilled nursing facility."
David Carmona, 74, of LaVerne, and Andy Tricas, 46, of Duarte were among those arrested during the five-month long investigation, authorities said. They and all the other suspects were being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the San Bernardino County Jail.
Carmona was the neighbor of another suspect, who has since died, and Tricas was the boyfriend of the now-deceased suspect.
Seven other suspects from throughout Southern California were also arrested Thursday morning, according to the D.O.J. statement. A tenth person charged in the case, Maribel Velazquez, 36, New Mexico, remained at large.
The alleged scam took place from 2006 to 2009, officials said.
After billing Medi-Cal for 100 percent of some patients bills, hospital employees are accused of soliciting additional money from elderly patients and their families, according to the D.O.J. The suspects allegedly placed the money in a patient trust accounts, then wrote checks on those accounts for their own gain.
"The scam involved hospital employees writing checks, ranging from $250 to $6,900, from the patient accounts to individuals in the gang, including a UPS driver, their own relatives, and a next door neighbor, who would then cash the checks, take a percentage of the stolen funds and return most of the cash to the hospital employees," the D.O.J. statement said.
The investigation into the hospital, carried out by the Attorney General's Bureau of Medi-Cal Fraud and Elder Abuse, began in January following a preliminary investigation by the California Department of Health Care Services, officials said.

LA VERNE -- A motorcyclist died Saturday after colliding with another vehicle on the 210 Freeway, authorities said.
Lincoln Juarez, 37, of Canyon Country died at the scene of the crash, coroner's officials said.
The crash was reported just after 9 a.m. on the eastbound 210 Freeway, just west of Fruit Street, California Highway Patrol Sgt. Jesse Holguin said in a written statement.
The rider was thrown from his 2008 Harley Davidson and pronounced dead at the scene after colliding with a 2006 Jeep Cherokee being driven by a 19-year-old Cypress man, Holguin said.
It appeared that either the motorcycle or the Jeep made an unsafe lane change, he said, however officials were continuing to investigate which vehicle caused the crash.
Any witnesses to the crash are asked to call the Baldwin Park office of the CHP at (626) 338-1164.

POMONA -- A Covina man entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to two counts of murder and other charges stemming from a crash in La Verne that killed his two passengers.
Alan McConnell, 27, of Covina pleaded not guilty in Pomona Superior Court to two counts of murder, as well as misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run, drunken driving, driving with a blood-alcohol level above .08, driving on a suspended license and an infraction count of driving without auto insurance, Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Meji Vellakkatel said.
McConnell is accused of killing two women who were passengers in his 2000 Pontiac Grand Am: 22-year-old Telassie Dague and 20-year-old Renee Hardy, both of Alta Loma.
He is accused of having nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his system at the time.
"The complaint alleges that it was at least .15 or above," Vellakkatel said. The legal limit is .08.
He is due back in court for a hearing on March 15, court officials said.
At the March hearing, officials will set a date for a preliminary hearing, provided attorneys on both sides are ready.
This is the third time McConnell has been accused of driving under the influence.
McConnell was already awaiting proceedings regarding another driving under the influence case that was filed against him in Los Angeles Superior Court for an alleged crime in Nov. of 2009, Vellakkatel said.
He was convicted in Orange County in October of 2009 for a misdemeanor driving under the influence offense that occurred in September of 2009, according to court documents.
The crash occurred Jan. 23 on Foothill Boulevard in La Verne.
He allegedly became involved in a minor crash with another car on Foothill Boulevard at Damien Avenue and was fleeing that collision when he crashed into a center median and a tree at Foothill Boulevard and Wheeler Avenue, La Verne police Lt. Nick Paz said.
Dague and Hardy both died of injuries suffered in the crash, officials said.
McConnell was not injured in the crash, police said.
If convicted on the murder charges, McConnell faces 30 years to life in prison.

LA VERNE -- An allegedly intoxicated driver crashed his car into a tree while fleeing the scene of another minor crash early Saturday, killing his two passengers, authorities said.
Alan McConnell, 27, of Covina was booked on suspicion of murder, vehicular manslaughter, felony driving under the influence and hit-and-run, La Verne police Lt. Nick Paz said. He was unhurt in the crash.
Renee Hardy, 20, of Alta Loma and Telassie Dague, 22, of Alta Loma died in the crash, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Investigator Jim Blacklock said.
They were passengers in the 2000 Pontiac Grand Am McConnell was driving, officials said.
McConnell was allegedly involved in a minor collision with another car shortly before 12:45 a.m. on Foothill Boulevard at Damien Avenue just prior to the fatal crash less than half a mile to the east at Foothill Boulevard and Wheeler Avenue, police said.
"He hit the curb when he was fleeing eastbound (on Foothill Boulevard), lost control, hit a center divider and a tree on the center divider, and came to rest on the north curb," Paz said.
The woman in the rear passenger seat died at the scene, Paz said, while the woman in the front passenger seat was rushed to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Initial tests indicated McConnell's blood-alcohol level appeared to be over the legal limit, and he failed a field sobriety test, officials said. Police were also looking into the possibility he was under the influence of drugs.
Official records indicate McConnell has had numerous run-ins with the law prior to Saturday's crash.
McConnell was charged with drunken driving and driving with a suspended license in December of last year in Pomona Superior Court, court records show. Information on the status of that case was not available Saturday.
He was also arrested on Tuesday and before that on Jan. 12 by deputies from the sheriff's San Dimas station, according to sheriff's booking records.
He was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of driving with a suspended license, Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Alex Vargas said. It was not clear Saturday what the Jan. 12 arrest was for.
In September of 2008, he was convicted of driving with a suspended license in Pomona Superior Court, records show, and he was convicted of marijuana possession in December of 2001.
According to sheriff's booking records, McConnell was being held in lieu of more than $2.1 million. Information on his initial court appearance was not available.

*UPDATE: Maria Medina was found Sunday afternoon, unharmed, wandering in a Khol's store in Glendora, La Verne police officials said.

LA VERNE -- Police are seeking an 80-year-old woman who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease and heart problems who disappeared Saturday.
Maria "Cocorro" Medina was last seen about 11:30 p.m. at her home in the 1000 block of Canyon View Drive, La Verne police said in a written statement.
Medina, who speaks Spanish, does not have her medication with her, officials said.
Medina is possibly wearing a turquoise sweater and cotton pants.
Anyone with information is asked to call the La Verne Police Department.

*Photo of Maria Medina courtesy of the La Verne Police Department.

From reporter Daniel Tedford:

LA VERNE - A bear that wandered into a residential neighborhood in La Verne has been darted and it is expected to be returned to the wild, officials at the California Department of Fish and Game said.

La Verne police started receiving calls around 11 a.m. Wednesday about a bear that had come to the neighborhood in the area of Fox Glen Avenue.

Officials darted the bear at about 1:15 and not many details are yet known. The only bears now living in California are the American Black Bear, but they do change colors seasonally, said Fish and Game spokesman Harry Morse.

LA VERNE - Armed robbers tied up six McDonald's employees early Saturday morning and robbed the popular fast food franchise of an undisclosed amount of cash, officials said.
One of the employees was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries, police Lt. Gary Mason said.
The robbery occurred about 4:15 a.m. at the burger joint, 2269 Foothill Blvd., just as employees were preparing to open the business, Mason said.
Two assailants - described as adult black men in their mid-30s, wearing baggy clothes - entered the store armed with a handgun.
After tying the six employees up with duct tape, the robbers made off with an undisclosed amount of money, officials said.
Officers found the employees after responding to an incomplete 9-1-1 call at the location.
An investigation is ongoing.