Suicide suspected after man found dead in Pasadena


PASADENA >> Police did not suspect foul play after the body of a man was found hanging from a tree along Euclid Avenue in Pasadena in an apparent suicide early Sunday, authorities said.
The body was first discovered about 5:45 a.m., hanging from a tree in on a parkway in the 200 block of South Euclid Avenue, near Cordova Street, Pasadena police Lt. Jesse Aguilar said.
It was believed the man, estimated to his late-20s or early-30s, had taken his own life, Aguilar said.
Coroner’s officials took possession of the remains and will conduct an autopsy.

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Man accused of intentionally striking woman with SUV in Pico Rivera


A man intentionally struck his girlfriend with an SUV in Pico Rivera late Saturday, shattering her leg, before being arrested at his South Gate home, according to officials and witnesses.
Daniel Lopez, 25, was ultimately found and arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon following the alleged 11:50 p.m. alleged automotive attack in the 9700 block of Woodford Street, near San Gabriel River Parkway, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Ann Devane said.
The couple became involved in an argument when Lopez accelerated his SUV forward, briefly pinning the woman between his SUV and a parked van before speeding away, the lieutenant said.
Paul Michael Flores, 18, of Whittier said he was passing by the area with his mother when they noticed a man and woman arguing. The man was seated in the driver seat of a Ford Explorer SUV, and the woman was standing outside the vehicle.
As the dispute continued, the SUV began inching toward the woman, who began shouting, “No, no! Stop!,” Flores said.
“That’s when he hit the gas and ran into her,” the witness said. The woman was briefly pinned between the SUV and parked van before the driver fled, and the woman fell to the ground.
“I called 911, made a U-turn, came back,” Flores said. The young man and his mother did their best to comfort and call the injured woman while relaying the information she told them to sheriff’s dispatchers via cell phone.
“She was conscious,” Flores said of the victim. “She was very shaken up, hysterical, crying.”
Deputies and paramedics soon arrived, he said. The woman was taken to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles for treatment as deputies investigated the incident, according to Devane.
Upon learning the suspect’s identity, deputies asked South Gate police to check Lopez’s home, Devane said. Officers found him sitting in his parked SUV in front of his home and took him into custody without a struggle.
According to county booking records, Lopez was being held in lieu of $80,000 bail pending his initial court appearance.

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Mother awakens to find burglar at her bedside in Pasadena


PASADENA >> A Pasadena woman asleep at home with her children awoke to find a burglar inside her bedroom on Saturday night, police said.
The break-in was reported about 10:30 p.m. at a home in the 500 block of North Rosemead Boulevard, Pasadena police Lt. William Grisafe said.
A woman in her early-40s as asleep in bed when she was awakened by some noises, he said.
“She got up to check on her children, at which point a suspect stood up from the ground at her bedside and ran out of the room,” the lieutenant said.
The woman did not get a clear view of the intruder, according to Grisafe. Several items were found to have been stolen from the home after the burglar fled.
Neither the woman nor her children were hurt during the burglary.
Anyone with information can reach Pasadena police at 626-744-4241. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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Man killed in Mount Baldy Road crash


ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST >> A man was found dead inside his SUV following solo-vehicle crash along a winding mountain road in the Angeles National Forest just south of Mount Baldy, authorities said Saturday.
Ryan David Hines, 27, of Mount Baldy died in the crash, Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner Lt. Larry Smith said. CHP records listed Hines a resident of Fountain Hills, Arizona.
The wreckage was discovered Friday, though it was not clear what time, or even what day, the crash took place, Officer T. Brazier of the California Highway Patrol said in a written statement.
Paramedics pronounced the driver dead at 3:10 p.m., shortly after the crash scene was discovered, Smith said.
Hines was driving a 1988 Ford Bronco south on Mount Baldy Road near mile marker 2.16, just south of Glendora Ridge Road, at an unknown speed prior to the crash, according to Brazier.
“For reasons unknown, the driver allowed the vehicle to veer to the east and collide with a dirt and rock raised berm,” the officer said. “The vehicle became airborne and subsequently collided with the downhill embankment.”
The SUV came to a rest upside down on an adjacent access road, Brazier said.
The crash remains under investigation by the CHP’s Baldwin Park-area office. Anyone with information can reach the office during normal business hours at 626-338-1164.

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2 DUI suspects arrested during checkpoints in Whittier, La Habra

Overnight police checkpoints in Whittier and La Habra late Friday into early Saturday netted two DUI arrests, 2 warrant arrests and 18 citations, authorities said.
In Whittier, police set up their checkpoint at Colima Road and Whittier Boulevard, Whittier police Lt. Bryan Ellis said.
Officers screened more than 1,000 cars, he said. Two drivers were given field-sobriety tests, but not ultimately arrested for DUI.
Police arrested one person for an outstanding warrant, issued three tickets for unlicensed drivers and wrote 10 “miscellaneous” traffic citations, according to the lieutenant.
No vehicles were impounded.
To the east in La Habra, officers screened more than 500 cars during their checkpoint at Lambert Road and Cypress Street, La Habra police officials said in a written statement.
Three drivers were investigated for possible DUI, with two of them ultimately arrested, police said.
Officers also made one warrant arrest and issued seven citations for driving without a license or driving on a suspended license.
Police stored or impounded five vehicles during the checkpoint, and another four were released at the scene to authorized, licensed drivers.

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Three sought in armed robbery at Duarte IHOP


  • DUARTE >> Deputies are seeking a trio of armed robbers who held up an IHOP restaurant in Duarte on Friday night.
    The crime unfolded about midnight at the restaurant, 988 Hamilton Road, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Frank Ruiz said.
    Two men wearing masks, accompanied by a woman, entered the store and ordered three employees to the ground, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
    At least one of the robbers carried a gun, Ruiz said.
    Apparently unable to find cash inside the store, the robbers ultimately fled with only an employee’s backpack, which contained “miscellaneous items,” and a VISA gift card from the cash register, according to the lieutenant.
    Detailed suspect descriptions were not available, and no getaway car was seen, officials said.
    Anyone with information can reach the sheriff’s Temple Station at 626-285-7171. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.
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Fallen Marine from West Covina escorted to final resting place with honors


WHITTIER >> A massive convoy of law enforcement officers from throughout Southern California escorted the flag-draped casket of U.S. Marine Ruben Velasco of West Covina to his final resting place on Friday night.
Velasco, a 19-year-old private first class and lifelong San Gabriel Valley resident, perished along with two fellow Marines on Aug. 5 in an MV-22 Osprey tilrotor aircraft crash off the coast of Australia.
His devastated family met the airplane carrying Velasco’s body at LAX before a sea of law enforcement officers from throughout the region, joined by Patriot Riders and elected officials, accompanied the family in a silent tribute to Rose Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary in Whittier.
PHOTO GALLERY
West Covina police, Covina police, South Pasadena Police, Santa Ana police, Los Angeles police, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies, California Highway Patrol officers and federal agents were among those taking part in the escort.
Grateful Americans and fellow military veterans lined the route outside the cemetery with flags and saluted the young warrior’s casket as it passed.
A memorial service will be held at 5 p.m. Wednesday in the SkyRose Chapel at Rose Hills, 3888 Workman Mill Road., followed by a funeral Thursday at 11 a.m.

PHOTOS/VIDEO of escort courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. PHOTOS of Ruben Velasco courtesy of family.

 

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UPDATED: Man wounded in Bassett machete attack


A man was wounded but expected to survive in a machete attack late Friday in the unincorporated county area of Bassett, authorities said.
Deputies first received to a report about 6:50 p.m. of an “assault with a deadly weapon” at Valley Boulevard and Temple Avenue, Los Angeles County sheriff’s Sgt. Ruben Macias said.
They found a man who had been stabbed with a machete, he said.
Paramedics took him to a hospital where he was in serious-but-stable condition, Sgt. William Kitchin said. He had suffered numerous injuries, including defensive wounds to his arms.
No further details regarding the circumstances of the stabbing, including a suspect description, were available.
Two men were seen fleeing the area in a vehicle following the stabbing, Kitchin said. But investigators received conflicting descriptions of what type of vehicle they were in.
Anyone with information can reach the sheriff’s Industry Station at 626-330-3322. Tips may also be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

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Sheriff’s department psychologist from La Canada Flintridge guilty of child molestation

A former Los Angeles County sheriff’s Department psychologist from La Canada Flintridge could face life in prison after a jury convicted him Friday of sexually abusing two young relatives over more than two years, authorities said.
A Los Angeles County jury convicted Michael Dane Ward, 45, of four counts of committing lewd acts on a child, two counts of forcible lewd acts on a child under 14, three counts of oral copulation of a child under 10 and one count of sodomy of a child under 10, Los Angeles County District Attorney’s officials announced in a written statement.
“Sentencing is set for Oct. 19, when Ward faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison,” according to the statement. The jury deliberated for three days before finding Ward guilty.
Should Ward ever be released from prison, he is expected to be required to register as a sex offender, district attorney’s office spokesman Greg Risling said.
Ward’s crimes took place between October of 2014 and March of 2016, prosecutors said at the time. His victims were both family members: a then-9-year-old boy and a then-10-year-old girl. Both victims testified against him at trial.
He was employed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as a psychologist at the time of his arrest. His specific duties within the department were not available, but sheriff’s officials said he was not a sworn deputy.
In a statement issued in the days following Ward’s arrest, the sheriff’s department described the allegations as “deeply troubling.”
“These allegations were not as a result of contacts he made within the scope of his work with the Sheriff’s Department,” according to the statement.
Ward was relieved of duty the same day he was arrested on May 5, 2016, sheriff’s officials added.
Ward posted $2 million bail 12 days after his May 5, 2016 arrest and had remained free pending the trial process, Los Angeles County booking records show.
Following the jury’s verdict on Friday, he was immediately remanded into custody without bail pending his sentencing in October in the Los Angeles branch of Los Angeles County Superior Court.

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West Covina man badly hurt in Irwindale motorcycle crash

A crash between a motorcycle and an SUV on Arrow Highway in Irwindale sent the 19-year-old motorcyclist to a hospital with major injuries, authorities said.
The collision took place about 1:20 p.m. at Arrow Highway and Maine Avenue, on the border between Irwindale and Baldwin Park, Irwindale police Sgt. Rudy Gatto said.
The motorcyclist, a West Covina man, was riding east on Arrow Highway just prior to the crash, the sergeant said. A Mitsubishi SUV being driven by a 21-year-old Covina man was making a left turn from westbound Arrow Highway onto southbound Maine Avenue.
“They collided in the intersection,” Gatto said.
Paramedics rushed the badly injured motorcyclist to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for treatment, according to Gatto. He was unresponsive, but had a pulse, when transported.
Gatto said the driver of the SUV remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators. There were no initial signs of impaired driving.
The cause of the crash remained under investigation.
All eastbound lanes of Arrow Highway and Live Oak Avenue, as well as the northbound lanes of Maine Avenue, remained closed well into Friday afternoon, causing a significant traffic backup,
Anyone with information can reach Irwindale police at 626-962-3601.

PHOTO courtesy of the Irwindale Police Department

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