Monrovia: July 2008 Archives

Firefighters from several local agencies left for Mariposa County Sunday to help officials there battle the "Telegraph Fire," officials said.
A strike team led by Pasadena Fire Department Battalion Chief Scott Dandridge was called to the fire Sunday afternoon, Pasadena Fire Department spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said.
The strike team includes one engine from the Pasadena Fire Department, two engines from the Glendale Fire Department, one engine from the Monrovia Fire Department and one engine from the Monterey Park Fire Department, Derderian said.
The fast-spreading blaze has charred more than 18,000 acres since Friday as wooded slopes ignited amid hot, dry conditions that have plagued California for months. The fire was completely uncontained Sunday morning.
The wildfire led officials to order the evacuations of 170 homes under immediate threat. About 2,000 homes faced at least some danger from the fast-spreading flames.
Most of the evacuated homes are in the town of Midpines, located along Highway 140, about 12 miles from the park.
Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said the southern edge of the blaze was as little as two miles from Mariposa, a town of about 1,800 residents.

Nate McIntire's story on an ATM scam in Monrovia was pretty thorough and included some interesting information from local authorities. It developed from an email posted here last week that generated some interesting commentary on the Foothill Cities Blog.

Goddess of Pomona has a local tale from the victim's point of view that makes for a great read:

The first thing that was sort of odd, is that when I went inside the store to pay, no one was there, and it was a good two minutes before anyone came inside. The man who came inside did not have a name tag on and that sort of bothered me too. I paid by credit card and what was irregular about that was that it looked like a normal cash receipt, but there was no pre-printed line for my signature. Instead, the checker drew a line in pen along the side of the receipt and had me sign my name perpendicular to the rest of the receipt. I convinced myself that these irregularities were rather charming in a funky Pomona kind of way. The gas station was absent of any other customers, 'cept a woman and her teenage son in an old caddie.

Otherwise, the pump worked fine and the money I put in seemed to make my gas monitor go up to to the proper level.

Well, fast forward to tonight. A few minutes ago, I turned on the Channel 9 news to see the cashier at Fuel It Up being interviewed about an alleged credit card scam operating out of the gas station.

This should make tomorrow's newspaper:

City officials have met to discuss the possibility of seeking a gang injunction. The idea's being talked about, but no decision has been made.

*Actually the injunction is already being pursued, according to Capt. Rick Miglia, who spoke at a city council meeting last week.

This from the email bag:

I am a resident of Monrovia, and I have been hearing alot about ATM scams going on in my city. My mother in law was hit for $600 dollars just before the 4th of July weekend, and so was her co-worker here in Monrovia. Just today I found out that another person was hit that lives on Madison. The police told my Mother in law, that they were looking into Pavillions in Monrovia for possible leads, being that most of them had used their PIN to make purchases there. ...

We are really concerned that there is a ring of Scammers out here. We are afraid of using our cards at all. If you know anything, can you please help us out, so that we know where to stay out of. I would like my name to be anonymous in case you decide to post anything on it. I just thought that if you knew something, it would be of great help to my community to be informed. Thank you for your time.

Any thoughts?

The planned press conference at the site of Saturday's shooting in Monrovia didn't pan out. Organizers were unable to get any support. And when TV crews didnt' show, organizers told our reporter and photographer that there would be no press conference until the "real media" arrived.

Almost as soon as the SGV Tribune PSN photographer took off, city spokesman Dick Singer arrived on the scene and apparently engaged in an argument with one of the "press conference" organizers. No details on the nature of the argument or what else happened out there.

*The argument was over whether or not the shooting victim was a gang member or not. A cop apparently stepped in and Dick Singer got into his car and drove off, reporter Nate McIntire said.

Organizers of a group called Enough is Enough plan a press conference in Monrovia this afternoon to decry a recent drive-by shooting there and possibly ask the city to remove Roger Johnson as Chief of Police.

Victim Brandon Black, 23,  has been branded by city officials as a member of the Du Roc Crips -- one of three warring gangs in the Monrovia-Duarte area. His family  said Black is not a gang member and was targeted by members of the Monrovia Nuevo Varrio gang because of his race. Black is Black.

The planned press conference will take place in the 500 block of Royal Oak. It begins at 3 p.m.

Spokesman Henry Clark said the group will demand police term the recent shooting a "hate crime."

"They are going to have to realize there's a ghetto in Monrovia and they are going to have to deal with the problems of the ghetto," Clark said. "Call these crimes what they are."

Clark also referred to Nathan McIntire's recent article on the strife in Monrovia and questioned how effective the police department can be against area gangs when allegations surrounding Police Sgt. Dan Verna have not been thoroughly investigated.

"If the city is not going to pay these officers and if they are going to be sitting in a park doing homosexual stuff with gang members the city needs to turn over patrols to the Sheriff's Department. And turn it over as soon as possible.

"As soon as the CHP and Sheriff's went away, this stuff started cropping up again. people are afraid its going to escalate like before."

BTW a Crime Scene poll on Johnson's performance has yeilded a huge vote of no confidence in the chief. Fully 76 percent of respondents voted in favor of removing Johnson. About 60 percent of those same respondents favor replacing the PD with the Sheriff's Department.

I got this letter from someone who identified himself as a relative of the man who was shot Sunday near Royal Oaks and Shamrock in Monrovia. The relative makes some interesting points about policing in Monrovia and the overall investigation. I've removed any identifying information. Letter on the jump:

 

First Nathan McIntire's blockbuster detailed turmoil within the Monrovia Police Department. Then we learned of a drive-by shooting that severely injured a 23-year-old man.

As a result, Crime Scene has opted for two polls about Monrovia.

The first asks for a vote on Police Chief Roger Johnson.

The second asks whether the Sheriff's Department should take over policing duties in Monrovia:  

After several months of relative peace and quiet a neighborhood in Northeastern Monrovia was rocked by gunfire late Saturday. The victim was described as a member of the DuRoc Crips. No suspect description was available. I've updated our guide to shootings in Monrovia -- map embedded below -- It really seems like that paticular neighborhood has a penchant for violence. The shooting occurred very close to where Brandon Lee was killed in January.

View Larger Map

Reporter Nathan McIntire did tons of research to put the Monrovia crisis into perspective. His opus will appear in Sunday's paper. It lays out the players, the stakes and the turmoil roiling the All America City. Here's some excerpts: 

While city leaders have been staunch in their support of the Police Department and its leadership, the lawsuits have cost Monrovia taxpayers nearly $680,000 in settlements and legal fees since 2006.
Two lawsuits have been settled by the city, and two are still pending. All include allegations that the department is rife with racial and sexual discrimination.
Johnson was a defendant in two of the lawsuits, but is named in all four. The actions of Police Sgt. Daniel Verna, currently on leave from the department, also figure prominently in the intertwined events described in the lawsuits.
"I think the management of the Police Department is corrupt. If the City Council wants to start doing anything about it, they should start terminating those in charge," Leo Terrell, the attorney for two of the plaintiffs, said in an interview.
<snip>
Nevertheless, Monrovia's legal battles are noteworthy when compared to those of other public agencies.
The Los Angeles Fire Department, for example, has faced a similar barrage of employment-related harassment and discrimination lawsuits over the last few years.
From July 2005 to April 2008, 15 civil rights lawsuits against LAFD, which currently comprises 3,586 sworn members, have cost the city nearly $7 million in settlements and legal fees. 
While LAFD is much larger than Monrovia's Police Department, the fire department's legal expenses work out to about $2,000 per sworn officer.
The four lawsuits against the Monrovia Police Department, which has only 55 sworn officers (plus six open positions), has so far cost the city about $680,000, or about $12,000 per officer.
<snip>
Cobb's attorney, Terrell, who also represents Thompson, said he plans to subpoena an officer currently on leave to testify in Thompson's lawsuit.
"I believe that officer has given untruthful answers in the Cobb case," said Terrell. "I think he was compromised, and I believe he was compromised by the management of the Police Department."
That officer is, presumably, Verna. 
In deposition records, Terrell noted that Verna was promoted to sergeant in mid-July 2006, a few weeks after he refused to provide a statement on behalf of Cobb.

You can read the whole story in tomorrow's newspaper. 

MONROVIA - Members of the Monrovia Police Officers Association are voting on a contract and the ballots will be counted on Monday, according to Dieter Dammeier, an attorney representing the MPOA.

Dammeier said he expects the deal to be approved. Should it pass, the City Council could approve it at its next scheduled meeting.

An agreement on a contract would settle a dispute between the city and the police union that has persisted since March.

Monrovia seems to be in a lot of news stories these days. From NBC in San Diego:

Authorities want to talk to the mother of one of two girls, ages 12 and 8, who disappeared from San Dimas with their foster parents' car.

Two girls, ages 12 and 8, were reported missing Monday from their foster home in San Dimas, along with their foster parents' car, which the older girl may be driving, the sheriff's department reported. Sheriff's investigators said the girls may have been abducted, and since the older girl's mother, identified as Iris Pineda Zavala, of Monrovia, cannot be located, that may be a possible lead in the case