Recently in San Dimas Category

SAN DIMAS -- A 66-year-old transient sustained burns to 15 percent of her body when a campfire started a brush fire Wednesday night, officials said.
Two deputies and a driver were also injured when a patrol car heading to the fire collided with a van.
The fire broke out at 8:24 p.m. in an area southeast of San Dimas Avenue and Puddingstone Drive.
Eddie Pickett, a Los Angeles County Fire supervising dispatcher, said 25 firefighters knocked down the blaze at 8:43 p.m.
Firefighters estimated it burned about 200 feet of brush.
Deputies couldn't confirm reports that an explosion was heard before the fire.
Sheriff's Lt. Andy Berg said the 66-year-old woman was taken to a hospital.
The crash happened within minutes of the fire being reported.
A van heading east on Arrow Highway pulled over to yield to a fire truck.
The driver, a 54-year-old woman, also saw two patrol cars with their lights and sirens pass, according to Berg. The deputies went from westbound Arrow Highway to southbound San Dimas Avenue.
Berg said all other traffic was stopped. The van proceeded through the intersection and collided with a patrol car.
He said the van's driver injured her left wrist, the deputy driving the patrol car complained of pain to her wrist and the deputy sitting in the front passenger seat complained of neck and back pain. All three were taken to hospital.
The deputies were expected to be released later from the hospital.
- From Staff Writer Ruby Gonzales

POMONA -- A judge Wednesday ordered a former San Dimas man arrested in Las Vegas earlier this year in connection with the murder of a Covina woman 26 years ago to stand trial Wednesday.
Stafford Joel Spicer, 55, is charged with the death of aspiring model and travel agency employee Jo Anne Marie, 23, of Covina, who went missing after leaving her boyfriend's condo in Long Beach on April 28, 1985.
Her body was discovered off of East Fork Road, near highway 39, in the Angeles National Forest more than a month later.
After a three-day preliminary hearing in Pomona Superior Court, Judge Bruce Marrs ruled that there was sufficient evidence to hold Spicer for a trial, court officials said.
He's scheduled to return to court Jan. 24 for an arraignment.
Prosecutors allege the killing occurred as Spicer was trying to kidnap, rob and rape Jones.
He was found driving Jones 1978 Chevrolet Camaro and initially arrested three days after Jones went missing, but more than a month before her body was found, authorities said. He was ultimately released due to a lack of evidence.
In 2009, Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide detectives learned new information and obtained new DNA evidence that caused them to take another look at the 26-year-old investigation, authorities said. Recent advances in DNA technology also made the arrest possible.
He was taken into custody in Las Vegas, where he had since moved.
According to county booking records, Spicer is being held without bail at the Men's Central Jail in Los Angeles pending trial.

SAN DIMAS -- Firefighter and animal control officials were summoned to the Michael D. Antonovich Trail Saturday after horse apparently fell over a cliff and died, authorities said.
The incident was reported about 11:10 a.m. on the trail, which is just west of San Dimas, Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Melanie Flores said.
The horse was about 35-feet over the side of a cliff, she said, however the circumstances of what happened were not immediately available.
No human injuries were reported, and it was not clear if the horse carried a rider when it fell.

SAN DIMAS - Three women died and four other people suffered injuries when a personal watercraft collided with a boat on Puddingstone Lake Saturday, authorities said.
The dead women were initially described as being in their 20s, 30s and about 60 years old, Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Bernard Peters said.
The crash was reported about 4:20 p.m. at the park, 120 Via Verde, Los Angeles County Fire Department Dispatch Supervisor Bernard Peters said.
Three men in their 20s and 30s were flown to a hospital by helicopter with apparently moderate injuries, Peters said, while a woman in her 20s was hospitalized with injuries believed to be minor.
Initial reports indicated a personal watercraft and a boat collided, officials said.
The three women who were killed were all believed to be riding on the personal watercraft, Peters said.

SAN DIMAS -- A man accused of threatening passing strangers with a rifle and a knife remained at large Thursday after a SWAT team surrounded his home but found he was not there, authorities said.
Freddy Silva, 31, was being sought on suspicion assault with a deadly weapon, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Craig Boyett said.
Deputies received a call shortly before 7 p.m. reporting two men and a woman walking in the 600 block of Baseline Road had been threatened and chased by an armed man.
"The suspect allegedly aimed a rifle at three adult victims, then chased them on foot while making threats and holding a knife," Boyett said in a written statement. "The suspect was last seen entering his residence on Baseline Road."
Detectives worked with the victims to identify Silva as the suspect, he said. Deputies contacted him via telephone, but he refused to surrender.
Believing Silva was possibly barricaded inside his home, officials summoned a SWAT team to help, Boyett said.
Deputies ultimately made their way into the home, however Silva was not there.
The motivation for Silva's alleged strange and violent behavior was not clear, Boyett said. He did not appear to know the victims at all.
Silva is described as Latino, 6 feet 1 inch tall and about 210 pounds.
Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff's San Dimas Station at 909-450-2700.

PHOTO courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

SAN DIMAS -- Coroner's officials have identified a 61-year-old man who died Tuesday following a fire at his San Dimas home.
Russell Bennett was pronounced dead at San Dimas Community Hospital within an hour of the 4 p.m. fire at his townhouse in the 900 block of Bidwell Road, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
"A bush caught on fire next to a townhouse, setting his house on fire," Winter said. "The decedent was seen going back into his house at least two times."
The man emerged from his house with his pet parrot and was near his car when he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing, according to officials and neighbors.
He did not appear burned or injured from the fire, neighbor Ashly Delgado, 21, said.
It was not clear Wednesday if Bennett died as a result of the fire, or if he suffered a medical condition such as a heart attack, Winter said. An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death.
No one else was injured in the blaze.
The cause of the fire was under investigation.

SAN DIMAS -- A man died following a house fire Tuesday, officials said.
The fire was first reported about 4 p.m. at a duplex in the 900 block of Bidwell Road, Los Angeles County Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Ryan said.
When firefighters arrived, they found a man of about 60 years old who was already outside of the burning home, but collapsed in full cardiac arrest, Ryan said.
It was not clear if the man suffered smoke inhalation or other injuries in the fire, or suffered some sort of medical problem.
He was rushed to a hospital, where officials pronounced him dead a short time later, Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatch supervisor Melanie Flores said.
The cause of the blaze remained under investigation.
About 50 firefighters extinguished the flames in about 15 minutes.
Neighbor Gavi Loor, 46, said she first noticed some bushes were on fire in front of the duplex and tried to put out the flames with a garden hose. She soon realized that the flames had spread to the home.
Neighbor Ashly Delgado, 21, said she saw the man exit his home with his pet parrot safely. He walked across the street, then collapsed.
The man appeared to stop breathing immediately, Delgado said.
Both neighbors said the man had lived on the street for more than 15 years, and he would often help neighbors with yard work or give them rides.
They had not yet received word of his death.
"He's awesome. He's a great guy," Delgado said.

SAN DIMAS -- Rescuers launched an intensive search late Tuesday for a man reported to have become stuck in a prickly predicament in Bonelli Park, only to learn three hours later that the man had freed himself and sought his own medical attention, authorities said.
Officials at the sheriff's San Dimas Station received a call about 10 p.m. from a person reporting that a friend had called him and said he was stuck in a cactus near Cataract Falls in Frank G. Bonelli Regional Park, Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said.
Sheriff's officials immediately sent the San Dimas Search & Rescue Team, along with deputies and a helicopter, to search the area for the man, Parker said.
Rescuers were able to reach the man via his cell phone, the captain said. He reported he was trapped in the cactus and he could see one of the rides at the Raging Waters water park from where he was.
As the search continued, he said, officials were no longer able to reach either the stranded man nor the original caller via telephone.
By tracking the ownership information of the cell phone, officials found the victim's girlfriend, who informed them he had freed himself from the cactus and gone to see a doctor, Parker said. The man did not inform officials that the massive rescue effort was no longer needed.
No further details were available.

SAN DIMAS -- Deputies arrested two Baldwin Park men Tuesday on suspicion of stealing two cars, including one that was taken earlier in the day from a parking lot at the Raging Waters water park, authorities said.
Carlos Flores, 25, and Sergio Lara, 21, were booked on suspicion of auto theft, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Craig Boyett said.
Someone flagged down a deputy in the Via Verde area of the city about 2 p.m. to report seeing two suspicious vehicles driving in the neighborhood, the lieutenant said.
A deputy found one of the cars, a Honda Del Sol, at Avenida Loma Vista and Paseo Gracia and pulled it over, Boyett said. It was found to have been reported stolen out of Montclair, and the driver, Flores, was arrested.
The deputy alerted fellow deputies of the description of a second car -- a pink Honda civic -- which appeared to have been driving with the Del Sol, Boyett said.
A deputy spotted the conspicuous Honda near Avenida Loma Vista and Paseo Anacapa, at which point Lara tried to elude him driving up onto the curb, Boyett said.
The Honda struck a parked recreational vehicle, he said, sheering off the windshield and roof of the car.
"That car had just been stolen from Raging Waters," Boyett said.
Lara was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries and arrested, officials said.
According to county booking records, Flores was being held in lieu of $26,865 bail, while Lara was being held in lieu of $50,000 bail. Both suspects were due to be arraigned Thursday in Pomona Superior Court.

SAN DIMAS - Gang detectives are continuing their investigation into the the shooting of a man in Bonelli Regional Park Saturday evening.
The Los Angeles County Fire Department began receiving calls reporting the shooting about 7 p.m., a fire official said.
Upon arrival, they found a wounded San Bernardino County man. He was flown by helicopter to Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center for treatment.
"The victim was shot in the chest, a through-and-through wound," said Sgt. Luis Trejo of the Sheriff's Operation Safe Streets task force -- the department's gang unit.
The man was expected to recover from his injury, officials added.
No information about the shooter was known, Trejo said, but based on the circumstances of the attack, detectives suspected it was gang-related.
There were at least 400 people at the large park when the shooting occurred, officials said, though it was unclear how many people were in the immediate vicinity of the gunfire.
A woman who injured herself running from the scene of the shooting was found a short time later near San Dimas Avenue and Puddingstone Drive. Sgt. Al Leyva of the Sheriff's Parks Bureau said she suffered only minor injuries.

ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST -- Officials and friends resuscitated and rescued a man from the San Gabriel River after he jumped or fell in and landed on a rock, authorities said Tuesday.
Officials received a call just after 5 p.m. Monday that a 46-year-old man, who had been drinking alcohol with friends near East Fork Road, "had either fallen or dove into the rushing water of the San Gabriel River," Los Angeles County sheriff's Capt. Mike Parker said in a written statement. "He struck a rock and was unresponsive and laying face down in the water."
"Witnesses moved him a short distance, but were hampered in their efforts due to it being a very treacherous area of the river and that it was difficult to move the man as he weighed well over 300 pounds," Parker said.
The friends began performing CPR and called 9-1-1.
U.S. Forest Service officials and a sheriff's rescue helicopter happened to be in the area and arrived to help within minutes, Parker said.
Sheriff's paramedics were lowered from the helicopter and were able to resuscitate the victim, hoist him up into the aircraft and take him to a hospital, officials said. He was listed in stable condition Tuesday.

LA VERNE -- Police and sheriff's officials arrested a Redlands man Saturday after he led them on a brief pursuit in a stolen car, authorities said.
Daniel Meininger, 31, was booked on suspicion of auto theft, evading police and reckless driving, La Verne police Sgt. Carlton Williams said.
An officer tried to pull Meininger over for a traffic violation about 10:45 a.m. in the 1900 block of Arrow Highway, Williams said.
Meininger refused to pull over and led officials on a chase into San Dimas, the sergeant said, ultimately crashing into a retaining wall in the 900 block of S. Walnut Avenue and continuing to flee on foot.
Officers and deputies set up a search perimeter, he said. Meininger made his way back into La Verne and was spotted in a flood control channel near the 1400 block of Arrow Highway.
Meininger surrendered without a struggle, Williams said.
It was determined that the car Meininger was driving had been reported stolen in Fontana.