Recently in Monrovia Category

MONROVIA -- Monrovia police and firefighters will compete in a charity basketball game next month to raise money for the American Cancer Society, officials said.

The "Battle of the Badges" game will take place at 6:30 p.m. June 1 at the Monrovia High School basketball gym, 845 W. Colorado Blvd., organizers said in a written statement.

Admission is $5. Children 12 and under will be admitted free.

The event is being hosted by the Monrovia Police Officers Association and the Monrovia Firefighters Association.

For more information, contact Monrovia police Officer Garcia at 626-256-8000.

MONROVIA -- Paramedics pronounce a Pasadena man dead inside his car along the side of the 210 Freeway early Thursday after he suffered an unknown medical problem, officials said.

The body of Jack Serrano, 54, was discovered inside his Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck just before 6 a.m. along the right shoulder wall of the eastbound 210 Freeway at Myrtle Avenue, California Highway Patrol Officer Kerri Rivas said.

It was unclear when Serrano actually lost consciousness, she added.

A Freeway Service Patrol worker noticed the truck along the side of the road and noticed a man inside slumped over the steering wheel and unresponsive, Rivas said. The worker was unable to open the truck's doors.

Paramedics responded to the scene and pronounced Serrano dead about 6:22 a.m., officials said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner will perform an examination to determine how Serrano died.

UPDATE: The previously unidentified woman described below has been identified, police said Thursday, May 17, 2012. She was identified as a transient from Los Angeles, and remains at the mental hospital for further treatment.

Original posting:

MONROVIA -- Police are asking the public's help in identifying an apparently mentally disabled woman who was hospitalized last month after causing a disturbance at a restaurant.

Police responded to a report of a woman causing a disturbance about 6:40 p.m. April 24 at a Subway sandwich shop at Foothill Boulevard and Primrose Avenue, Monrovia police Sgt. Patty Newton said.

The woman appeared disoriented and spoke incorehently and in a foreign language, though she also speaks English, the sergeant said.

Officials took the woman to an area mental hospital, where doctors and staff have been unsuccessful in identifying her. 

"For two weeks they were trying to communicate with her and she won't communicate," Newton said. "We can't figure out who she is."

No fingerprint matches could be found for the woman, and a search of area missing persons' cases did not turn up a match either, police said. 

She is described as Asian, 50 to 6 years old, 4 feet 11 inches tall and about 100 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes.

PHOTO courtesy of the Monrovia Police Department

Story on Monrovia Patch

MONROVIA -- Four people were cited in Monrovia last week on suspicion of buying alcohol for minors during the state's largest-ever "decoy shoulder-tap operation," officials said Wednesday.

Monrovia police joined the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control and about 90 other law enforcement agencies statewide Friday to crack down on those willing to purchase alcohol for those not yet 21 years old, Monrovia police officials said in a written statement.

"Under the program, a minor under the direct supervision of a peace officer will stand outside a liquor or convenience store and ask patrons to buy them alcohol," the police statement said. "The minor indicates in some way he or she is underage and cannot purchase the alcohol. 

The purpose is to reduce the availability of alcohol to minors, officials added. More than 300 adults were cited for furnishing alcohol to minors throughout the state in the sting, officials said.

PASADENA -- A woman was sentenced to four months in jail and three years of formal probation Friday for striking a teenage girl with her car in Monrovia and fleeing the scene, authorities said.

Emma Tapia-Gonzalez, 23, was ordered to return to Pasadena Superior Court May 11 for a restitution hearing, court officials said.

The received her sentence of 120 days in jail, with 10 days credit for time served, from Pasadena Superior Court Judge Terry Smerling.

Tapia-Gonzalez pleaded no contest earlier this year to felony hit-and-run, misdemeanor driving without a license and an infraction of driving without insurance earlier this year in connection with the Jan. 27 crash at on Huntington Drive at Canyon Boulevard that badly injured a 12-year-old girl who was crossing the street.

After fleeing the scene, investigators tracked her down at a Duarte business where her boyfriend worked, officials said.

Tapia-Gonzalez faced a maximum sentence of four-and-a-half years in prison.

PASADENA -- A Monrovia woman who pleaded no contest to charges she fled the scene of a crash that badly injured a 12-year-old girl is due to be sentenced Friday, authorities said.

Emma Tapia-Gonzalez, 23, pleaded no contest in late January to a felony count of hit-and-run, a misdemeanor count of driving without a license and an infraction count of driving without insurance, Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison said.

She was initially scheduled to be sentenced last Friday, however the hearing was postponed, court officials said. She faces a maximum of four and a half years in prison.

Tapia-Gonzalez struck a 12-year-old Monrovia girl while driving her 1995 Infinite sedan on Huntington Drive at Canyon Boulevard Jan. 27, investigators said. Other children the girl was crossing the street with when struck were not injured.

Tapia-Gonzalez fled the scene following the crash, but was tracked down later in the evening at a Duarte business where her boyfriend worked.

She was released on her own recognizance pending sentencing after entering the no contest pleas Jan. 31.

PASADENA -- A Monrovia gang member is is awaiting sentencing for the 2009 slaying of another man along Colorado Boulevard.

Gary Sanchez, a member of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio street gang, faces up to 50 years to life in prison March 23 when he returns to Pasadena Superior Court for sentencing, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney's officials and Monrovia police Detective Robert Wilken.

Four other suspected MNV gang members are still awaiting trial in the Dec. 15, 2009 killing of Jason Gentile, 22, of Anaheim, Wilken said.

The exact motive in the altercation between Gentile, who was walking with his girlfriend, and the five suspects was not clear, however it may have stemmed from Gentile's white supremacist ties, investigators said.

"He had visible swastika tattoos on his head," Wilken said.

In addition to the murder of Gentile, Sanchez was also convicted of wounding Gentile's girlfriend, who was shot in the foot during the attack, officials said. The jury also found true special allegations of firearm use and committing the crime for the benefit of a criminal street gang.

The killing of Gentile took place just before a judge granted a gang injunction against MNV and another rival gang, the Duroc Crips.

MONROVIA -- Two suspects in a Colorado Boulevard robbery were behind bars Saturday as police continued seeking a third.

Anthony Villa, 19, and Roger Macedonio, 20, both of Monrovia, were booked on suspicion of robbery shortly after Thursday's 11 p.m. heist on Colorado Boulevard at Violet Avenue, Monrovia police Sgt. Patty Newton said.

A young man was walking when he was approached by three other young men who demanded money and assaulted him, the sergeant said.

The robbers obtained some cash, and the victim suffered minor injuries, she said. It was not clear if a weapon was involved in the robbery.

Police searched the area and found Villa and Macedonio, who were ultimately arrested in connection with the robbery, Newton said. The third suspect has been identified but remained at-large Saturday.

Villa and Macedonio were being held in lieu of $50,000 bail each pending arraignment Tuesday in Pasadena Superior Court, according to county booking records.

MONROVIA -- A teenager arrived at a hospital with a stab wound to his arm early Sunday, however the circumstances of the stabbing remained under investigation, police said.

Detectives were looking into the possibility the assault may have been related to a vandalism that was reported minutes before the stabbing in the same area -- California Avenue near Evergreen Avenue, Monrovia police Sgt. Glen Coleman said.

The 16-year-old stabbing victim appeared evasive during police questioning, Coleman said, and ultimately told investigators that he and his friends had been approached on the street by two men in their 20s.

After exchanging words, the victim reported, one of the two men pulled a knife and stabbed the teen in the upper arm, Coleman said.

Only minutes before police received words of the stabbing, however, authorities received another call from California Avenue, just south of Evergreen Avenue, Coleman said.

A resident reported that someone had thrown a cement water meter cover through the front window of their house, the sergeant said. The vandalism victim told investigators he chased a group of vandals for a short distance on California Avenue, but did not report being involved in a fight.

"We don't know if (the stabbing) is related to this vandalism or not, but we have a pretty good hunch," Coleman said.

The investigation was ongoing.

MONROVIA -- A 12-year-old girl struck and badly injured by a hit-and-run driver last week has been upgraded from critical to stable, police said Sunday.

The girl was crossing Huntington Avenue at Canyon Boulevard with some other children just before 4 p.m. Friday when she was struck by a 1995 Infinite J30, Monrovia police officials said. The car continued driving, and the girl was hospitalized in critical condition.

"She is responding well to the doctors," Monrovia police Sgt. Glen Coleman said Sunday.

Emma Tapia-Gonzalez, 23, of Monrovia was tracked down by police in the hours after the crash and arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run, Lt. Nels Ortlund said. She does not have a driver's license.

Tapia-Gonzalez was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail pending arraignment Tuesday in Pasadena Superior Court.

MONROVIA -- A 12-year-old girl was fighting for her life at a hospital Saturday after being struck by a hit-and-run driver while crossing Huntington Drive, authorities said.

After allegedly fleeing the scene of the crash, police tracked down and arrested Emma Tapia-Gonzalez, 23, of Monrovia on suspicion of hit-and-run, Monrovia police Lt. Nels Ortlund said. She does not have a driver's license.

The young girl was crossing south across Huntington Drive at Canyon Boulevard shortly before 4 p.m. Friday with a group of about four other elementary school-age siblings and friends when she was struck by a westbound 1995 Infinite J30, the lieutenant said. The car fled the scene.

Rescuers rushed the injured girl to a hospital, where she was listed in critical condition, police said. She was described as a student at Clifton Middle School, which is about a mile away from the crash scene.

The crash occurred at a "T" intersection where there are no crosswalks or other markings.

Another vehicle had stopped for the children in the number two lane of Huntington Drive, but Tapia-Hernandez apparently failed to see the children and struck the 12-year-old girl, Ortlund said.

Initial reports indicated that the children were running across the street when struck, he added.

Witnesses provided descriptions of the hit-and-run vehicle, and officers immediately launched a tenacious investigation, Ortlund said.

"Officers worked very, very hard on this. They did some excellent follow up investigation," he said.

The task of tracking down the alleged driver was complicated by the fact that Tapia-Gonzalez has never been issued a driver's license, police said.

"(Officers) went to something like four or five locations before ultimately tracking the vehicle down to her current residence," Ortlund said.

Police then located Tapia-Gonzalez and arrested her just before 8 p.m. Friday at a Duarte business where her boyfriend works, officials said.

Tapia-Gonzalez admitted her involvement in the collision, Ortlund said, and physical evidence such as a broken piece of mirror left at the scene linked her car to the crime.

According to county booking records, Tapia-Gonzalez was being held in lieu of $100,000 bail pending her initial appearance in Pasadena Superior Court.

ALHAMBRA -- Trial began Thursday for an alleged Duarte gang member accused shooting and paralyzing a then-16-year-old boy in 2008, officials said.

Jimmy Santana, 23, is charged with attempted murder for shooting a 16-year-old boy has he rode his bicycle in the 2500 block of Peck Road, in an unincorporated county area near Monrovia, on Jan. 29, 2008.

Investigators have described the wounded teen as an innocent young man who got caught in the crossfire of a feud between black and Latino gangs in the area in late 2007 and early 2008.

After a jury was selected in for the case in Alhambra Superior Court, opening arguments were heard Thursday and the alleged victim took the stand to testify, court officials said.

At a hearing 2 months after the shooting, the young man described how he was riding home from a dairy when a car approached and a gunman, later identified as Santana, opened fire while shouting gang slogans.

According to county booking records, Santana is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.