Pasadena: March 2008 Archives

The one-man Azusa crime wave known as Ralph  "Swifty" Flores, 26, received the death penalty Tuesday, as Tribune night guy Brian Day reported:

Deputy District Attorney Michele Hanisee, who prosecuted the case along with Deputy District Attorney Ian Phan, said Flores deserves to be put to death, "Because he smirks when he plans to kill people, he laughs when he does it, and he brags about it afterward. That's what the evidence showed."

She added that Flores has shown no compunction for his crimes, as he demonstrated by assaulting a sheriff's deputy before the trial began and ordering a "hit" on a deputy during the jury selection process.

Flores sat silently and motionless as the verdict was read, Hanisee said. He showed no reaction at all, she added.

Defense attorney Pierpont M. Laidley said he believes negative feeling toward gang members in general caused jurors to overlook problems in the prosecutions case. "That's why I feel my guy was lynched," he said.

Los Angeles Times' EME expert Sam Quinones extensively covered the trial and put some context in his story about the significance of the sentence and the effect of Flores' crime wave on Azusa politics. Quinones also notes the connection between Azusa 13 and Jacques Padilla, an Azusa emero who's been in the news lately. Here's a snippet from the Times:

For Azusa, the case marks the end to a violent chapter in which a handful of gang members called the "trigger clique" terrorized the town with a series of shootings, killings, robberies and hate crimes targeting blacks.

Their rampage lasted from 1999 to 2004.

Besides Flores, seven other Azusa 13 gang members were convicted of the crimes and sentenced to lengthy prison terms -- five of them in one 2004 trial.

"It was a violent time for the city," said Sgt. Mike Bertelsen, Azusa's gang expert. "We were having a murder a month at the end of 2002."

What brought this violent period to an end "was a combination of citizens, the clergy, City Council and police all working together," said City Manager Francis Delach. "I think that had a big impact."

Azusa's experience shows how a few gang members following directives from the Mexican Mafia prison gang can become a public policy issue, scaring residents while taxing the budget and police resources of an otherwise peaceful town.

 

 

 

 

Pasadena blogger, Philadephia Eagles fan and former pro wrestler Aaron Proctor has posted what appears to be an e-mail exchange with interim Pasadena City Manager Barney Melekian. It comes after a more Dickensian interview by Miss Havisham. Here's a snippet from Proctor's interview:

The Proc Says:  Which show was better:  ‘Adam 12′ or ‘Dragnet’?

Melekian: Adam 12 since they have better hats.

Three black males were targeted in a shooting on North Fair Oaks near Washington in Pasadena at 1:30 a.m., Tuesday.  Suspects in the case were described three Latino males in their 20s, Pasadena police told reporter Amanda Baumfeld.

The men were targeted for "no reason at all."

Meanwhile, officials continue to claim there is no racial undercurrent in recent violence on Southland streets. 

Here's what we know about the investigation into the missing persons case involving a former police officer who disappeared just after Christmas:

1). The "badly decomposed" body of former Pasadena police Lt. David Richter was found beneath a freeway overpass in Irwindale last Thursday.

2). There was a weapon at the scene, according to Ed Winter of the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.

3). Richter's girlfriend, Noah Beltran, personal assistant to interim Pasadena police Chief Chris Vicino, has been placed on paid administrative leave for "misleading investigators" who were searching for Richter.

4) One of Richter's cars, which had been originally reported as missing, turned up in the garage of a friend.

5) Despite the discovery of a gun at the scene, no suicide note was recovered from his body, either car or his home.

6) Investigators from Irwindale, who recovered the body have been asked to remain silent about the circumstances.

Questions of the day: Is there something more sinister than a suicide going on here? Why all the mystery?

The discovery of a missing Pasadena police lieutenant’s decomposed body is one of those head scratchers that come along every now and again on the police beat.

David Henry Richter, 55, of Arcadia was reported missing just after Christmas by his father, a Palm Springs doctor. Right after that, investigators found Richter’s 2007 Lexus abandoned on Rivergrade Road in Irwindale.

From there, bloodhounds led police to a chalky, deep pond at the bottom of a nearby gravel pit. Divers searched the pit and the Coast Guard brought in sonar equipment, all in hopes of finding Richter’s body.

He wasn’t found, and the case remained unsolved until late last week.

On Thursday a Caltrans worker picking up trash underneath an overpass where the 605 crosses Rivergrade Road discovered Richter’s body. By then it was so badly decomposed that determining how he died apparently isn’t a slam dunk.

We have learned that he was clothed. There was no note at the scene and “he had a weapon with him,” according to Ed Winter, assistant chief of the coroner’s department.

“It’s a probable suicide, but we’ve deferred the ruling pending additional stuff,” Winter said.

Among the “additional stuff” is likely an interview with Richter’s friends, particularly girlfriend Noah Beltran, a one-time assistant to interim Pasadena police Chief Chris Vicino.

Following Richter’s disappearance, Beltran was placed on paid administrative leave by the department for allegedly giving false information to Arcadia police investigators searching for her boyfriend.

No one will say what that false information was, or how long Beltran will remain on leave.

It has been reported that a second car belonging to Richter, originally thought missing, turned up in the garage of an acquaintance, Arcadia police told us in January. They did not identify the acquaintance.

As for Richter, he was born in Pasadena, grew up here, graduated from John Muir High School and pretty much went to work for the Pasadena PD right after that, according to his father, Dr. Henry Richter of Palm Springs. Investigators notified Dr. Henry Richter that his son’s body had been found, but there was no surprise.

“We didn’t expect a different outcome,” Henry said. “We emotionally said goodbye when his car was found in January and bloodhounds tracked him to the gravel pit. It was pretty clear to us then that he was gone.”

Henry does defend Beltran, whom he described as “delightful, but fragile.”

“I don’t know all the details,” he said. “What happened to her happened early on. I thought it was unfair.”

Richter will be laid to rest in a small, private ceremony, according to his dad.

“That’s what he wanted,” Henry said. “Beyond that we’re trying to sort things out. It’s not easy when a person doesn’t leave a note, a will or any trace.”

Eric Leonard, one of the better cop reporters in the county, got his hands on a copy of the Board of Inquiry investigation into the LAPD's SWAT unit. Here's a link to the pdf. LA Observed has some other links.

Among those on the board was Pasadena police Chief Barney Melekian, noted for his opposition to gang injunctions, and this blog. Included in the recomendations are proposals to bring more women and minorities onto the team; go to 24-hour 7-days a week scheduling; and rotation of members out of SWAT and into other assignments.

The board implies that SWAT has become an anachronistic arm of LAPD and change is necessary.

Besides Melekian, Merrick Bobb and several prominent members of the local community participated in the board.

Here's an excerpt from an LADN story on the panel's formation in 2005:

``Almost as important as the review is that we are looking at a cultural change in the process,'' Villaraigosa said. ``Chief Bratton and I are committed to changing the department from its days of a closed-door attitude. The LAPD is opening itself up for an outside review. This is the kind of opening that I as mayor want to see continue.''

Among the members of the Board of Inquiry is Merrick Bobb, an attorney who oversaw an inquiry into the Sheriff Department's use of force policy and is a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Other members include attorney Richard Aborn, who investigated misconduct inside the New York Police Department; William Geller, a consultant on police use of force policies; Lt. Phil Hanson of the Sheriff's Department; attorney Greg Longworth, a retired NYPD officer considered an expert in deadly force cases; Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian; LAPD Assistant Chief Linda Pierce, who oversees the LAPD Criminal Investigations Bureau; and attorney Eugene Ramirez, a former Deputy District Attorney who has worked with SWAT teams.

Bobb said he was pleased to be part of the group and welcomed the chance to look at SWAT.

``As far as I know, this is the first time a police department has voluntarily opened itself up for this kind of review,'' Bobb said.

The panel was formed after the death of Susie Pena, a 19-month-old killed in a standoff between LAPD officers and her father Jose Pena.

BTW, blogger Miss Havisham has posted the contents of an email interview she did with Melekian, now the interim City Manager of Pasadena. Here's a link.

 *It's only right to point out that the story was broken originally by Monrovia resident Robert CJ Parry in an opinoin piece that ran in last Sunday's LA Times. We blogged it last week. In case you missed it here's a link.

A body discovered under a freeway overpass on the 605 Freeway was identified as missing former Pasadena police Lieutenant David Richter, 55.

Richter has been missing for several months. According to the Pasadena Weekly, his girlfriend, an assistant to interim Chief Chris Vicino has been placed on administrative leave.

The coroner's office has not assigned a cause of death in the case, pending the outcome of toxicology reports.

It’s very French to chronicle goings-on in the United States.

Way back in 1835, Alexis De Tocqueville started the industry when he wrote "Democracy in America," and it continues today.

I know; I have an e-mail to prove it.

"Subject: Urgent French/TV Request.

"Dear Sir,

"My name is Capucine Pétre, I am a French journalist, and I am working on a documentary about L.A., to be broadcasted on French national TV M6 (2nd French channel)."

My initial thought was that this was one of those phony pitches for money that emanate from the Third World and into my e-mail box.

The e-mail continues with a description of the proposed documentary, which will be shown in France on a program titled "Enquete Exclusive." In English that translates to "Exclusive Survey."

Basically, these folks are going to hang around Los Angeles for a month and "present the reality of the (region) through 4 or 5 portraits."

I don’t think they know what they are in for; how can our neighborhoods be summed up with four or five interviews peppered through an hour program?

On the other hand, "Exclusive Survey" has done some pretty interesting journalism. According to its Web site, Monday’s show focused on Cuba. Here’s the promo:

"The sun of the Caribbean, the sandy beaches, a stunning colonial architecture: Cuba is increasingly popular among tourists, but behind the postcard which is the delight of vacationers lurks a reality much more difficult for Cubans. Fidel Castro, (president) since 1959, (heads) a terribly repressive police state."

Sounds interesting to me. Upcoming shows will focus on Baghdad, post surge, and the "secret life of undocumented immigrants."

But let’s get back to Los Angeles County as seen through four or five pairs of eyes. I’m trying to imagine the promo:

FIRST SHOT:

A camera mounted in a helicopter pans across a vast and well-known region.

ANNOUNCER:

(French accent)Zee blue Pacific, zee palm trees, zee palatial estates of the ’ollywood stars. Los Angeles — the epitome of style, class and wealth. But behind the pretty pictures generated by America’s propagandistic movie studios lies colder reality.

CUT TO:

Graffiti-covered freeway soundwalls; a grainy televised image of a police pursuit through Montebello or West Covina; a screaming mother held back by police officers on the edge of a crime scene, yellow tape flapping the breeze.

CAMERA PANS UP TO:

 L.A. skyline rising through dark haze blowing from the north, where the hills are filled with fire.

ANNOUNCER:

Zis is that reality, Los Angeles, California.

FADE TO BLACK ...

In truth, I hope the show actually shies away from the clichés that define our hometown. They need four or five people to guide them. Who would you talk to?

My "Exclusive Survey" would be Kevin Rodrick, of the laobserved.com Web site, which is plugged into pretty much everything L.A.; Kim Cooper of the Esotouric bus company, which tours people around historic crime scenes in Los Angeles, the San Gabriel Valley and Pasadena; and Lt. Gil Carrillo, of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.

Oh yeah, and I’d tell them to read a lot of De Tocqueville. He got it right.

Pasadena police have set up a containment in the Northwest looking for a suspect in an apparent assault with a deadly weapon. They are bringing in the SWAT team and the armored vehicle.

Mentone and Stanton

Lincoln and Idaho

Lincoln and Howard

Lincoln and Wyoming

are several locations where the action is occuring.

This from Brian Day on the night shift:

PASADENA - Two men robbed a business of about $1,500 worth of sunglasses Tuesday after spraying the employee with pepper spray, officials said.

The incident occurred about 11:30 a.m. at the Sunglass Hut, 89 W. Colorado Blvd., said Pasadena police Lt. Jari Faulkner.

Two robbers described as black men in their 20s entered the store and picked up about three "very expensive" pairs of sunglasses, Faulkner said.

They then sprayed the store employee in the face with pepper spray and ran away, she said.

The robbers last were seen running east toward North de Lacey Avenue, Faulkner added.

She said the employee was not hospitalized.

PASADENA - Seven suspected gang members were arrested in the city in the last week for the stabbing and beating of three people at a city gas station.

The people were fueling up their car at a gas station near the intersection of Lake Avenue and Washington Blvd. around 2:30 a.m. on February 10 when the suspects surrounded them and attacked, said Lt. Alex Uribe of the Pasadena Police.

The men arrested are Julio Hernandez, 23, Gustavo Menzo, 18, Edgar Sentero, 19, Michael Martin Solis, 19, Robert Julio Arnaud, 19, Jose Antonio Garcia, 24, and Wilbur Dominguez, 19.

Uribe said that he believed the suspects are members of the Pasadena Latin Kings gang.

Six of the suspects were arrested on February 28, when Pasadena police detectives and SWAT team members served search warrants at three Pasadena locations and one in Duarte, police said.

The victims survived the attack, said Uribe. The suspects were charged with assault with a deadly weapon, he said

This clown house at 3872 East Colorado Boulevard in East Pasadena is practically next door to the place we profiled Wednesday.

Here's the residents listed on the Megan's Law Web-site:

ROBERT ALFRED GARCIA

261(2) RAPE BY FORCE

HENRY GARMA

261(a)(2) RAPE BY FORCE/FEAR/ETC

264.1 RAPE/ETC IN CONCERT WITH FORCE/VIOLENCE

286(d) SODOMY IN CONCERT WITH FORCE

                        288a(d) ORAL COPULATION IN CONCERT WITH FORCE/ETC

ARTHUR KNOX

261(2) RAPE BY FORCE

286(d) SODOMY IN CONCERT WITH FORCE

288a(d) ORAL COPULATION IN CONCERT WITH FORCE/ETC

ANTHONY DENNIS ORONA

288.5 CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILD

ALVIN POLK

261(2) RAPE BY FORCE

286(c) SODOMY WITH PERSON UNDER 14 YEARS OR WITH FORCE

                        288a(c) ORAL COPULATION WITH PERSON UNDER 14/ETC OR BY FORCE/ETC

STEVEN ROY RIVERA

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

ASHLEY WHITLEY

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

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This one is located at 3853 East Colorado Boulevard in what appears to be unincorporated Pasadena. The State's Megan's law website says there are eight offenders in the motel. They are:

RICKEY PAUL ABRAM

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

DAVID ALVARADO

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

PAUL CENTENO

f288(c)(1) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD 14 OR 15 YEARS OLD

f647.6(a) ANNOY/MOLEST CHILDREN

FRANKLIN DUWARD CLARK

288.5 CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILD

f288(c)(1) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD 14 OR 15 YEARS OLD

BERNARD PEARSON COVINGTON

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

NATHANIEL DAVIS

261(2) RAPE BY FORCE

MICHAEL GERARD POQUETTE

288(a) LEWD OR LASCIVIOUS ACTS WITH CHILD UNDER 14 YEARS

m647a ANNOY/MOLEST CHILDREN

KENNETH JAMES SNIECINSKI

288.5(a) CONTINUOUS SEXUAL ABUSE OF CHILD

5) MAN DOWN: PASADENA - A 27-year-old man stabbed an unincorporatd Pasadena resident several times early Monday morning, police said.

4) TRAIN DOWN: INDUSTRY - A train narrowly missed striking a pedestrian Monday morning after the man jumped out of the way, officials said.

3) WOMAN DOWN: ROWLAND HEIGHTS - A 20-year-old woman was killed and a man was seriously injured in a car accident Sunday night.

2) TEEN DOWN: WHITTIER - A 17-year-old was shot and wounded Sunday in what was described as a gang-related shooting. The teen was riding a scooter near Norwalk Avenue and Balfour street at the time of the incident, officials said.

1) CRANK DOWN: MONROVIA - Three arrested Saturday in a car loaded with more that 6 ounces of crank. Two men and a woman were taken in to custody by the Monrovia police.