Pomona: February 2012 Archives
An armed man who was shot by West Covina police after a high-speed chase Sunday had his 4-year-old son with him during the wild pursuit in a stolen SUV, police said Monday.
Freddy Silva, 31, allegedly drove the wrong way on the 10 Freeway, opened fire on police with a shotgun, and crashed into a house in Pomona, before he left his son and carjacked second car. He was then shot by police and remains hospitalized.
Silva had been acquitted 10 days before on an assault case involving a firearm, police also said Monday.
Lt. Dave Dolson of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said Silva, whose last known address is in Claremont, was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and remained in critical condition Monday at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center.
"He was shot once in the upper torso with a department-issued shotgun," Dolson said.
The Sheriff's Homicide Bureau is handling the investigation because it is an officer-involved shooting.
Dolson said Silva's son is in protective custody with the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. He didn't know where Silva was heading Sunday before encountering police.
According to online court record and authorities, a Pomona Superior Court jury acquitted Silva on Feb. 16 of charges related to an assault case.
West Covina police shot and seriously wounded a man Sunday following a wild high-speed chase to Pomona during which he opened fire on police with a shotgun, drove the wrong way on the 10 Freeway, crashed into a house and carjacked a second vehicle, authorities said.
The suspect was taken to a hospital following the shooting, where he was listed in critical condition, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Tony Moore.
Sheriff's officials initially said the suspect had died at the hospital following the shooting.
"That information was reported to us incorrectly," Moore said. "The suspect is not deceased and is listed in critical condition."
The shooting took place about 4 p.m. on Alvarado Street, just west of Park Avenue, officials said.
The incident began about 15 minutes prior, when a police officer spotted an SUV that had been reported carjacked driving in the area of Temple Avenue and Amar Road in West Covina, West Covina police Lt. Alan Henley said. The SUV failed to pull over for the officer, initiating a pursuit at high-speeds.
When the chase reached the area of Amar Road and Amber Valley Drive in Walnut, "The suspect pointed a shotgun out the window and fired at officers," Henley said.
The suspect was believed to have fired one or two blasts from his shotgun, police added. No officers were struck.
The pursuit continued onto the 10 Freeway, where the suspect drove on the wrong side of the roadway into Pomona, Henley said. At several times during the chase, the fleeing driver pointed his shotgun back toward the pursuing officers and made "furtive movements," he added.
The fleeing SUV exited the freeway and crashed into a house in the area of Park and McKinley avenues, officials said. The suspect then allegedly carjacked a second vehicle, a white Honda sedan.
Authorities late Sunday could not confirm initial reports from the scene that a child had been left behind in the crashed SUV.
The white car rammed a police car before the pursuit came to an end on Alvarado Street, Henley said.
The circumstances of what took place next remained under investigation, officials said, however an officer-involved shooting took place in which the suspect was struck in the upper body.
West Covina and Pomona police swarmed the scene in the minutes following the shooting and shut down Alvarado Street in the area where the shooting occurred.
Maria Hernandez, 40, said she was in her home when she heard a single gunshot and looked outside to see what was going on.
By the time she looked outside, police were already taking the wounded man into custody, she said. "He was yelling."
She added the white Honda the suspect has been driving continued moving without a driver until it struck a curb.
The wounded suspect's name was not released Sunday. Witnesses said he appeared to be a Latino man in his 30s.
As is common practice with officer-involved shootings involving Los Angeles County police agencies, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Homicide Bureau is leading the investigation, officials said.
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided Wednesday over a law that makes it a crime to lie about having been awarded top military honors.
The justices engaged in spirited debate over the constitutionality of a 2006 law aimed at curbing false claims about military exploits.
Some justices said they worried that upholding the Stolen Valor Act could lead to other limits on speech, including laws that might make it illegal to lie about an extramarital affair or a college degree, or to impress a date.
"Where do you stop?" Chief Justice John Roberts asked at one point.
But Roberts later joined other justices in indicating that the court could make clear that, if it upheld the law, it would only be endorsing an effort to prevent people from demeaning the system of military honors that was established by Gen. George Washington in 1782.
The Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., defended the law as targeted to "protect the integrity of the honors system."
Justice Sonia Sotomayor seemed the least willing member of the court to accept the administration's argument. She disputed that the value of the highest award, the Medal of Honor, or any others has been diminished because some people lie about having received them.
Sotomayor said the issue provokes a justifiable emotional reaction, but said previous Supreme
Court cases make clear that taking offense by itself is not enough to justify limiting speech.
"So outside of the emotional reaction, where's the harm? And I'm not minimizing it. I, too, take offense when people make these kinds of claims, but I take offense when someone I'm dating makes a claim that's not true," said Sotomayor, who is divorced.
On the other side was Justice Antonin Scalia. "When Congress passed this legislation, I assume it did so because it thought that the value of the awards that these courageous members of the armed forces were receiving was being demeaned and diminished by charlatans. That's what Congress thought," Scalia said.
Jonathan Libby, the federal public defender arguing against the law, said Congress' intent is hard to discern because it passed the legislation without any hearings.
Libby's client, Xavier Alvarez, was one of the first people prosecuted for violating the Stolen Valor Act. Alvarez told a meeting of the Three Valleys Municipal Water District in Pomona, to which he had been elected, that he was a wounded war veteran who has received the Medal of Honor.
He never served in the armed forces.
- From the Associated Press. FULL STORY.
POMONA -- A six-car crash briefly shut down all eastbound lanes of the 10 Freeway during the morning rush-hour Friday.
The crash was reported just before 7:30 a.m. on the eastbound freeway, just west of Dudley Street, California Highway Patrol Officer Monica Posada said.
Initial reports indicated between four and six vehicles, including a big rig, were involved in the crash, according to CHP logs.
All eastbound lanes were blocked for more than half an hour as officials moved the wreckage to the side of the road. At of 8:07 a.m., all but the right-hand lane were re-opened, and all lanes were cleared by 8:40 a.m.
No major injuries were initially reported, Posada said.
The crash was being investigated by the CHP's Baldwin Park Office.
POMONA -- Authorities have identified a man whose body was found inside a burning car along the 10 Freeway in Pomona last week, though how the man died remained under investigation.
Christopher Michael Cercone, 33, of Ontario was pronounced dead after firefighters extinguished a burning Chevrolet Impala along the the South Campus Drive onramp to the westbound 10 Freeway, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner's Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
The body was found in the driver's seat of the car, which was reported as a car fire by passers-by about 10 p.m. Jan. 26, according to Pomona police investigators.
Once firefighters extinguished the flames and discovered the body, they determined the fire was suspicious in nature and notified Pomona police, authorities said.
The car displayed no body damage consisted with a major crash.
An autopsy had been carried out on Cercone's body, Winter said, however an officials cause of death was deferred pending further examination.
Pomona police homicide detectives continued investigating.
CONTRIBUTORS
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| Frank Girardot, Metro Editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, brings you behind the yellow tape with takes on true crime, cold cases and more. This is also your forum to discuss crime, its impact on your neighborhood and how we cover it. Have any questions or tips? You can leave a comment here or e-mail Frank. |
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Brian Day is the crime reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group. E-mail Brian. |
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