Monrovia: January 2008 Archives

"I don't want this to happen to any family. Politicians come on listen to us. This is an election year." Jeanette Chavez, mother of Sammantha Salas.

"The retailiation and violence is impractical and immoral. The violence must stop." Bishop William LaRue Dillard, 2nd Baptist Church Monrovia. "We are in a crisis in Monrovia."

"We should pray for grace and wisdom. We need to promote a culture of life not a culture of death." Father Charles Ramirez, Annunciation Parish, Monrovia.

"Law enforcement from the San Gabriel Valley has come together. Fifteen agencies are sending officers to assist us, but the problem will not be solved with law enforcement alone."
Monrovia Police Chief Roger Johnson. "These are sociopaths they have no fear of their families their chruch -- anybody."

 

 

I took these pictures this morning outside the home where Brandon Lee was shot to death. The first picture is of the memorial to Lee. The second picture shows the mother of Samantha Salas at the event.

Monrovia officials have scheduled a press conference to discuss the situation. Starts at 10 a.m. at City Hall.

I plan to cover the Press Conf via the blog. I will post updates in the comments section of this entry.

Police now say Brandon Lee, who was shot to death Tuesday night in the 500 block of Almond Street died holding a piece of rock cocaine. Not sure if that meant he was selling it or buying it when he was shot.

Interesting tidbit anyway.

The photo at right is from Tuesday night as police raided the home of Sanders Rollins. lee was shot while all these coppers were in the neighborhood.

 

City News is reporting a new shooting in Monrovia in the 500 block of Almond Avenue occurred at 7:51 p.m. according to Sheriff's deputies. The victim, a man, died in a local hospital. Sheriff's homicide and Monrovia PD are investigating..

Wow

This occurred while the investigation at Mr. Rollins' house was taking place reporter and photog are en route although there may not be much left at the scene.

 

8:33 p.m.

1234 Sherman in Monrovia. Police are inside the house where Mr. Rollins was shot. They have brought along a gun-sniffing dog as part of their investigation. One police spokesman told reporter Brian Day they the investigation is connected to a Jan 14th shooting, in which no one was hurt.

As our photog was taking pictures of the scene, police closed the blinds on the front windows so that no pictures could be taken of the investigation taking place inside.

 

8 p.m. update

Police have surrounded a neighborhood near Huntington and California as part of their effort to stop the violence in Monrovia. A helicopter has been circling the area. We have a reporter and photographer on scene. The neioghborhood is near where Mr. Rollins was shot.

2:51 p.m. Conversation with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca from Hector Gonzales.

He's concerned about this spreading into the innocent population a task force in place.

"This is going way over the line now" Baca said while using words like "savage" to describe the current state of affairs.

Baca also said Day Day was intentionally targeted because he was NOT a gang banger

 

 

UPDATE 2 P.M.

The City Manager has issued a report on gang violence:

Here's an Excerpt: And a link

Over the last several days, I have received a handful of emails and comments from folks who believe that the current rash of gang violence is really a “race war.” In one email, a person sent me a number of news clippings detailing hostilities between Latino and African-American gangs as evidence that this is all about race, as opposed to criminals committing criminal acts. Although the topic of race is always very sensitive, I believe that we must be able to speak rationally, intelligently and carefully about such complex issues; to quote Confucius, “The beginning of Wisdom is to call things by their right names.”
I responded to the email stating that the mere fact that each of the articles that were cited focused on gang violence, trends in gang violence, demographic shifts that can contribute to gang violence, etc., that the sender had actually proved my point – that the issue here is not race; it’s gang violence. The racial/ethnic identity of the gang members gives the story racial overtones, to be sure. And tension is certainly not uncommon when one group supplants another in a given area or neighborhood – this has been witnessed time and again over hundreds of years throughout the history of cities and towns.
But this tension, in 2008 and here in Monrovia, does not extend so far as to cause a spontaneous combustion of hatred and bigotry.

UPDATE: 1:38 P.M.

Caroline An reports that Alhambra High School officials were reluctant to acknowledge Samantha Salas was a student there. What was interesting about the conversation and illuminating about the bureaucracy that runs our schools, the official was willing to discuss the fact that grief conselors were on campus today. He just wouldn't say why they were there and wouldn't discuss Salas.

 

UPDATE: 12:53 P.M.

MAP of Monrovia shooting locations posted below.

Additionally we have a page devoted to coverage of the crime wave at http://www.sgvtribune.com/monroviashootings

UPDATE 11:40 A.M.  This from PSN City Editor Hecttor Gonzalez:

looks like cops are out there in force hunting for evidence, including digging that stray bullet out of the wall of that one apartment (geez!), re-interviewing possible witnesses, ect. -- but how knows why they had to shut down the entire area around the building to do this. could be a show of force

UPDATE ENDS HERE

 

Some interesting notes that we will be developing throughout the day:

1. There some belief that Jose Garcia, the convicted killer of Deputy David March apparently lived in the apartment complex where Sammantha Salas was shot. It makes sense as it is only a short drive between there and the spot on Live Oak where March was murdered.

2. Who owns the apartment complex? What is their relationship with local authorities?

3. According to Rob Hammond, meetings between Monrovia officials, Duarte officials, police and sheriff's department and the school districts took place yesterday. What happened?

4. The condition of Sammantha Salas friend who was also shot Saturday night.

5. Your continued thoughts on the state of affairs and the ongoing racially motivated gang war in Monrovia.

By the Way I plan to keep this at the top of the page today so that commenting here will be easy for new readers

 

 

 

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This is the makeshift memorial outside the apartment building where Sammantha Salas, 16, was shot to death Saturday night. The building itself is pockmarked with bullet holes. The owner of a nearby drive-thru dairy told me that Salas was killed in a hail of "machine gun " fire, which he head.

This from reporter Brian Day on the Trib cop desk: The sheriff's Department isn't saying much about the case. The victim hasn't been identified according to the coroner's office. And LASO hasn't even posted an update on their website.

 

This time its in the North Primrose neighborhood. A total of 47 signs were stolen in the rain.

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.

Dear Ms. Chatila and Mr. Giardot,
 
As a longtime Monrovia resident with children in the public elementary schools here, I read with interest your recent article "Rival Gangs Blamed In Spree."  Your piece correctly states that these heinous violent crimes are the result of gang rivalry, not some general tension between African-Americans and Latinos.  There is an ongoing need for greater understanding between blacks and Latinos across the greater Los Angeles area, but the deadly shootings that occurred over the last week in Monrovia are not the result of racial tension.  They are the result of tension between groups of our young men who have, tragically, separated themselves from mainstream society and given their loyalty to criminal organizations bent on dominating, terrorizing and dividing our communities. 
 
But one doesn’t have to be a gang-banger to become a victim.  Unfortunately, your article’s lack of detail about the victims could easily lead readers to conclude that they were all gang-affiliated.
 
I first learned of this week’s shootings Tuesday night (Jan. 15) at meeting of the Monroe Elementary School PTA (where I serve as first vice-president).  One of our parents told us that Day-Day, the 16-year-old Monrovia High School student who was shot, is a good kid who's active in his church youth group and even organized a Bible school for neighborhood children during the summer.  
 
Your article would have been so much better if it had included at least one quote from a friend, relative or neighbor of pointing out some of these facts about the young man. Your article also failed to mention that the Day-Day is hospitalized in critical condition and that the family's church is collecting funds and goods to support the family.
 
A follow-up story exploring these angles could be beneficial to the community and to the Star News.  I’d be more than happy to help get you in touch with people to interview for such a story.
 
Sincerely yours,
 
Cameron Turner

The question: Are authorities in Monrovia doing enough to curb gang violence?

Your answers so far:

Answer	Votes	%
	No	49	79%
	Don't know	9	15%
	Don't care	2	3%
	Yes	2	3%
		62

Answer	Votes	%
	No	41	80%
	Don't know	6	12%
	Don't care	2	4%
	Yes	2	4%
Total votes:		51

The root of the Monrovia gang problem appears to be racial, according to city officials and others we interviewed for a story that will appear in Wednesday's Star-News and Tribune.

Here's the top of the story as it stands:

By Tania Chatila
and Frank C. Girardot
Staff Writers

MONROVIA — A spate of violence that left one man dead and a teenager wounded are acts of retaliation on the part of rival black and Latino gangs, authorities said Tuesday.
The activity in Monrovia continued late Monday when three men were shot at but not hit.
Police announced an arrest in the case Tuesday and acknowledged an increase in gang violence over the past several months.
“This is a particularly bad time,” Monrovia police Chief Roger Johnson said. “There are rival gangs going at each other. It’s a very bad time.”

When I heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights of two Monrovia patrol cars whizzing down Huntington Drive Monday night, first thing I thought of was: "No. Couldn't be another shooting. Or could it?"

Sure enough, seconds later, I watched as police set up a perimeter in the 200 block of West Cypress Street. Turns out there was a drive-by shooting.

It seems the violence in Monrovia is growing, and residents of the area are not surprised. I spoke with more than a dozen residents Monday night - including students of Monrovia High - who knew all about rising tensions between Black and Hispanic gangs.

Turns out last night's shooting - though it may have had been fueled by a domestic dispute - involved two adult Black men who shot an adult Hispanic man.

We're just getting more information about the incident this morning. Attempts to talk a sergeant at the scene last night were unsuccessful. One officer kept saying this: "140 E. Lime. That's the Police Department." Yah, I know.

Look for a story in tomorrow's paper.

The Tournament is over, the year has begun.

Whittier and Monrovia reporting shots from a gun.

As for injuries, we're not sure yet.

But we on the cases.

You can bet.