Recently in Monterey Park Category

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.

Jennifer McLain will be reporting this story later today:

 A burlgary ring that involved dozens of homes and a victim who was fired on by a suspect was broken this week. The Temple City's Sheriff's Department arrested four people, including one female, who were led the ring. The woman was arraigned today at the Alhambra Courthouse.

Jen says the ring was operating in Rosemead, Monterey Park and Temple City. More on this as it becomes available.

Brian Day is set to report the existence of a serial robber who is targetign area beauty stores. THe robber has apparently hit five beauty supply locations in recent weeks.

The latest victim .com Beauty Supply in Walnut.

Aslo targeted were stores in Alhambra and Monterey Park. Link to the story when it comes in.

 

Official counts indicate three murders county-wide during the 40-hour "Murder Moratorium."

The moratorium was planned as a way of honoring the death 40 years ago of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. THe LA City Council rejected the idea initally, but did issue a proclamation against violence. No one's checked weekend violence stats yet, but undoubtedly they are typical for an average weekend in Los Angeles County.

One of those killed over the weekend was a 23-year-old La Puente man, shot to death in the 400 block of Edgley Drive in Monterey Park.

Alfred Richard Chavez, 23, was shot about 1:20 a.m. Sunday, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner. Sheriff's Homicide is investigating the case.

 

  Suspected killer Aaron Raigoza holed up at the Desert Sky Motel and RV park in Yucca Valley. He was captured Thursday and appeared in court Friday to face murder charges. No bail in the case. Apparently Raigoza had written letters to his in-laws after the killing of Ana Acosta, his former wife. Family members described the letters to Tania Chatila. In the letters Aaron apparently said he was sorry he had hurt the family.

Here's what Tania wrote after learning about the letters:

I had a conversation Laura Avina today, the sister of Ana Maria Acosta, who was murdered in front of her parents’ Monterey Park on Feb. 4.

Avina told me that two days after Acosta’s death, her family received two letters in the mail allegedly from Aaron Raigoza — Acosta’s estranged husband and a suspect in her death.

The letters were postmarked on Feb. 5, the day after Acosta was shot, according to Avina.

Avina claims one letter was specifically addressed to Acosta’s mother and the other letter was penned for the rest of the family. She said Raigoza confessed to the murder in both letters, allegedly saying he was sorry for killing Acosta but that "she deserved it."

 

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This from Dan Abendschein, working the cop shift this morning:

MONTEREY PARK - A man suspected of killing his estranged wife was arrested in Yucca Valley on Thursday evening, authorities said.

Aaron Raigoza, 34, allegedly shot his wife, Ana Maria Acosta, 32, to death outside her parents' home in the 500 block of South Russell Avenue in Monterey Park earlier this month.

Court documents show that Acosta had three restraining orders against Raigoza dating back to last spring, because of threats on her life.

"I'm going to kill you," Raigoza told Acosta on May 28, 2007 according to court documents. "I'm going to die and you will come with me. You will shed a lot of blood."

Acosta and Raigoza - both employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District - were embroiled in a divorce, which was set for trial on March 8.

Records show that Raigoza was contesting the $1,880 in child support payments he had to pay Acosta each month for their 6- and 7-year-old children.

Raigoza was arrested around 9 p.m., according to Lt. Carrie Mazelin of the Monterey Park police department.

He is scheduled to be arraigned in Alhambra Superior Court on Friday morning, she added.

Dan is headed to court for the arraignment this a.m.

 

Reporter Paul Clinton of the Daily Breeze forwarded this press release from LAUSD regarding a fund for Ana Raigoza.

LAUSD ESTABLISHES CHARITABLE ACCOUNT IN THE NAME OF
SLAIN DISTRICT EMPLOYEE, ANA MARIA RAIGOZA

"Ana Family Fund" to support the victim's two surviving children, ages
7, and 5

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) today
announced the establishment of a charitable account in memory of slain
District employee, Ana Maria Raigoza, 32, who was tragically killed at
her Monterey Park home, Feb. 4. She leaves behind two young children.

"Ana's children will forever be scarred by the senseless death of their
mother," said LAUSD Superintendent David L. Brewer.  "The District
created the fund to allow her friends, co-workers and the general public
to financially support her children during this difficult time."

Members of the public can make their checks out to "Ana's Family Fund"
and send their donations to:

"Ana's Family Fund"
c/o The Office of the Superintendent
Los Angeles Unified School District
333 S. Beaudry Ave, 24th Floor
Los Angeles, CA  90017

All contributions, which are not tax deductible, will be deposited in an
account in Ana's name at the California Credit Union, which is located
on the second floor of the LAUSD Administrative Headquarters Building in
Downtown Los Angeles.

Raigoza, who worked eight years at the LAUSD, served as a payroll
technician at the time of her death. She is survived by a son, 7, and a
daughter, 5.

The victim's husband, Aaron Raigoza, is being sought for questioning by
the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

LAUSD sort of downplays the Aaron Raigoza reference. He's a suspect in Ana's killing. He was seen leaving the area after she was shot to death.

 

The shooting death of Ana Maria Acosta, 32, outside her parents' Monterey Park home Monday night stands as another reminder of the nature of temporary restraining orders - sometimes they aren't enough.

Police say Acosta's estranged husband, Aaron Raigoza, 34, is a "person of interest" in the shooting, and witnesses placed him at the scene of the crime.

Turns out Raigoza was named in a TRO filed by Acosta.

...

Attorney Denise Wright, who briefly represented Raigoza, a high school teacher in Huntington Park, wouldn't discuss her former client. Wright did recall Acosta as a "lovely, lovely, reasonable, level-headed woman."

...

Wright said she makes a living representing Los Angeles Unified School District employees and teachers like Raigoza.

"I represent a lot of teachers," Wright said. "They are the nicest people."

...

A man who lives in an apartment complex near King Taco in Baldwin Park called in early Wednesday to talk about a shooting in his neighborhood.

He had a ton of reasons for not wanting his name published, but we'll boil it down to this: He fears for his safety.

The shooting, which police characterized as a drive-by, resulted in the death of a 29-year-old man, according to Baldwin Park police Lt. David Reynoso.

The now-deceased man was reportedly walking on the sidewalk when he was shot twice in the abdomen, once in the thigh and once in the left arm.

Nearby, the caller and several others hit the floor.

"There was like eight to 20 shots," the man recalled. "I thought the first one was an M-80. Boom, boom, boom, boom. They were loud. We didn't know if the shooter was going to come over the wall to the apartment building where I live. Everybody was really scared."

The City Council apparently took the shooting into consideration late Wednesday in a discussion about the future of police Chief Edward Lopez.

Tania Chatila, who covers Baldwin Park for this newspaper, reported a conversation she had Wednesday afternoon with Councilwoman Marlen Garcia.

"She could not comment on Lopez's job security Wednesday afternoon, but did say they were going to be taking everything `into account in evaluating the chief,"' Chatila said.

Including Tuesday's killing, Garcia told Chatila.

"It's really a matter of looking at the community at large and ensuring we are providing the best programs and processes to provide a safe community."

...

A woman was injured and shots were fired in a credit union takeover in Santa Fe Springs.

The robbers apparently bluffed their way into the location by pretending to make a delivery - in a Buick Le Sabre!

Veteran police reporter Ruby Gonzales said the heist "smacks of an inside job."

"Why hit a credit union in a fairly secure location when you can just hit one in a shopping center?"

Police said they've made one arrest in the case and more are pending.

This is basically what our story will say tomorrow:

A woman who was shot and killed near her parent’s home Monday night had just left the police station where she had filed a complaint about her estranged husband, officials said.

Police were searching Tuesday for the man identified as Aaron Leonel Raigoza, 34, a teacher at Henry T. Gage Middle School in Huntington Park. He was identified as a person of interest in the shooting death of Ana Maria Raigoza, 32, police said.

The couple were embroiled in a divorce case in Los Angeles, according to court records. There was at least one hearing on a temporary restraining order in the case. The couple most recently appeared in court on Jan. 22 and were due to return on March 8, court records indicate.

The dead woman is identified as Ana Maria Raigoza. She was shot to death last night. Police are looking for her husband Aaron Raigoza, a person of interest in the case.

Ana Maria worked at LAUSD downtown, according to reporter Amanda Baumfeld.

Raigoza had apparently left the Monterey Park police station just before she was shot to death. MPPD are not releasing domestic violence call logs for the Raigoza residence....they apparently want to give most of their information to FOX News this afternoon at 4 p.m.

MONTEREY PARK - A woman was shot and killed Monday, officials said.

The incident was reported about 6:40 p.m. on Newmark at Russell Avenue. The Sheriff' sdepartment originally placed the crime scene at Garvey. It's actually on Russell just south of Newmark.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene,  said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Ed Hummel.

Detectives from the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau are assisting the Monterey Park Police Department in the investigation, Hummel said.

No further details were available.

At 10: p.m. a television helicopter was hovering above the investigation. Police were out in force on the scene.

 

Reporter Jennifer McLain put together a comprehensive story about her two days taking part in a sting operation aimed at prostitutes using Internet services to advertise their services. In all the sting netted 37 arrests primarily in the West San Gabriel Valley. Jen's got some great stories about the operation which she's been sharing all day. Here's a map of the locations that were raided this week:

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I'll add this as a module later, but for now here's a link to all the Crime Scene maps.

The bag of potato chips was invented in Monterey Park by Laura Scudder in 1926.