San Gabriel: February 2012 Archives
SAN GABRIEL -- A man who planned on buying some cell phones from another man earlier this week got more than he bargained for when the seller pulled a gun, authorities said.
A man who owns a cell phone repair business was solicited via his phone earlier this week by man who offered to sell him four BlackBerry cell phones for $1,200, San Gabriel police Lt. Antonio Hernandez said. The victim did not previously know the seller, or how the seller obtained his phone number.
The men met up about 8:20 p.m. Thursday in a parking lot in the 200 block of West Valley Boulevard to perform the transaction, the lieutenant said.
After selling the victim the cell phones, the robber pulled a silver handgun and robbed the buyer of his laptop computer, wallet and about $4,000 in cash, police said. The BlackBerry cell phones were not taken back from the victim.
As the sale turned into a robbery, a second man joined the first robber, Hernandez said, and both men were last seen fleeing the area in a newer-model, silver, 4-door Chevrolet sedan.
The gunman was described as black man in his mid-20s, about 5-feet 5-inches tall, 155 pounds, with dark hair and dark eyes. The second robber was described only as a black man in his mid-20s with curly hair.
Anyone with information is asked to call San Gabriel police at 626-308-2828.
SAN GABRIEL -- Authorities Friday released the name of a 30-year-old man who was fatally struck by a car while standing in a driveway in front of his home.
Thomas James Ristich of San Gabriel died at the scene of Thursday's 1:47 p.m. accident in the 1100 block of South Charlotte Avenue, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
He was standing in a driveway in front of his home when, for reasons that remained under investigation, a southbound Toyota Camry driven by a 79-year-old San Gabriel woman, suddenly veered to the left and into the driveway, San Gabriel police Lt. Antonio Hernandez said.
The investigation was ongoing, however no crime was initially suspected, Hernandez said.
No official cause of death is known for a San Gabriel woman and Tournament of Roses volunteer whose body was found in the trunk of her car in 2004, resulting in the arrest of an Alhambra man on suspicion of murder earlier this week, coroner's officials said.
Richard Allan Munnecke, 71, was jailed Wednesday on suspicion of killing 59-year-old Donna Kelly, whose body was found by her daughter in April of 2004, sheriff's officials said. She went missing about three weeks earlier.
Coroner's medical examiners were unable to determined how Kelly died, largely because of the condition her body was discovered in, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner's Assistant Chief of Operations Ed Winter said.
"(Cause of death) is undetermined after autopsy and toxicology. They don't know why she died," Winter said.
Investigators noted in their report that the cause of death was, "possibly masked by decomposition," he added.
Detective Richard Lopez of the Sheriff's Homicide Bureau said after meeting with coroner's medical examiners, investigators are convinced that Kelly died as the result of suffocation. He declined to give further details.
DNA linked Munnecke to the killing, leading to his arrest, Lopez said.
As part of the ongoing investigation, detectives obtained a court order to collect a sample of DNA from Munnecke in August of 2010, Lopez said.
While Munnecke had not previously been named as a suspect in Kelly's killing, "We knew of his connection to the victim," the detective said.
When results from the DNA analysis came back in September of last year, "it narrowed the investigation," Lopez said.
Authorities allege the killing took place while Munnecke, who is married, was having an affair with Kelly. Munnecke has denied an affair took place.
Munnecke's arrest shocked many who knew him as a friendly and active community member.
According to county booking records, he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail pending arraignment Friday in Alhambra Superior Court.
ROY, Utah -- Police who have been digging on a Utah property for three days say the excavation is related to the search for a San Gabriel man who went missing under "suspicious circumstances" after heading to Utah to seek work last year.
Layton Police Lt. Travis Lyman said detectives are looking into the case of Victor Flores of San Gabriel, Calif., though he declined to say what was found inside the hole at a duplex in Roy, Utah, Tuesday.
"We're still in the middle of processing that scene," the lieutenant said. "We're not releasing what, if anything, we've found yet."
The reason for the search, he added: "We're looking for any items of evidence."
Lyman said police would make a statement regarding their findings once the search was complete, which he expected would be Wednesday or Thursday.
One officer looking into the hole was reportedly seen holding his nose, and police have used a tarp to shield the view of onlookers from their work.
Flores, then-25, departed from his home in San Gabriel in early May to seek work in Utah, San Gabriel police Lt. Darren Perrine said.
Within days of his arrival in Utah, he went missing, officials said.
Flores' mother, who kept in frequent contact with him, grew worried when she lost touch with her son and reported him missing to Utah investigators, Perrine said.
While Layton investigators labelled the disappearance as occurring under, "suspicious circumstances," Lyman said, "We can't comment on what specifically those circumstances are. "It's still part of a real active investigation."
While the investigation is being by the Layton Police Department, Perrine said, San Gabriel police have assisted detectives in Utah through such measures as collecting a DNA samples from relatives for comparison.
It was unclear what his relationship is to the duplex where police are searching.
Lyman would say only that a "culmination" of evidence and interviews led police to believe, "there may be items of evidence at this address."
Police used ground-penetrating radar last week at the site, where excavation began Monday, officials said.
Shortly after Flores was reported missing, Utah police spoke with residents of a home in Layton who told them they knew Flores, and that he was fine, Lyman said.
When police returned to re-interview the residents several weeks later, they had moved, he said.
A family friend told the Standard-Examiner of Ogden that Flores had gone to Utah with an acquaintance with the promise of a construction job, but had later called family members to say he had changed his mind. She added she was suspicious of the acquaintance.
Neighbors of the home in Roy where the excavation was taking place told the Ogden newspaper that police in tactical gear raided the house in the fall and made an arrest.
PHOTO of Victor Flores: courtesy
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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