shooting: January 2008 Archives

Some interesting notes that we will be developing throughout the day:

1. There some belief that Jose Garcia, the convicted killer of Deputy David March apparently lived in the apartment complex where Sammantha Salas was shot. It makes sense as it is only a short drive between there and the spot on Live Oak where March was murdered.

2. Who owns the apartment complex? What is their relationship with local authorities?

3. According to Rob Hammond, meetings between Monrovia officials, Duarte officials, police and sheriff's department and the school districts took place yesterday. What happened?

4. The condition of Sammantha Salas friend who was also shot Saturday night.

5. Your continued thoughts on the state of affairs and the ongoing racially motivated gang war in Monrovia.

By the Way I plan to keep this at the top of the page today so that commenting here will be easy for new readers

In February of 2005, ICE agents engaged in a “criminal alien program” seeking to deport illegal immigrants in the prison and jail system, said Kice. Tellez was serving time in Ventura County for drug possession and resisting arrest, according to court documents.

Days after the deportation, Tellez was caught trying to cross back into the United States south of San Diego, Kice said.

Tellez’s criminal history stretches back to 1992 when he pleaded guilty to resisting arrest. The same year he pled guilty to being a minor in possession of alcohol.

In 1994, Tellez was arrested by police in Oxnard on weapons charges. He pleaded guilty to felony assault with a deadly weapon. That same year he also pleaded guilty to a charge of spousal abuse and was sentenced to 180 days in the Ventura County Jail, according to official records.

In 1999 Tellez was accused of violating a restraining order in a domestic case. Officials said they did not know if the restraining order involved Suzanne Jaramillo, the victim in Monday's murder-suicide.

The suspected killer of a Diamond Bar man was captured last week when the City Council decided to pour extra funds into a homicide investigation.

Not only did detectives end up nabbing Jae Yi, 24, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pasasouk, 23, both of Rancho Cucamonga, they also put 18 suspected burglars behind bars in connection with 22 burglaries.

Not a bad day's work.

Many of those arrested were part of a ring targeting Indians and Asians, officials said.

Yi and Pasasouk are facing a variety of charges stemming from the murder of Panalal Shah, who died during the burglary of his home Dec. 4

As for the rest of the group, none has been charged with burglary - yet. Most were picked up on violations ranging from outstanding warrants to probation and parole violations.

Even so, state Justice Department Assistant Chief Jerry Hunter's description of the ring was the most telling.

"There are killers and ruthless burglars who terrorized the San Gabriel Valley for months," Hunter said.

Perhaps it's time for Monrovia and Duarte to pull a page from the Diamond Bar playbook.

Monrovia and Duarte have been faced with a form of terrorism themselves - and not just over recent weeks. Commenters on the Crime Scene Blog say racial tension and gang violence have been routine in area neighborhoods for years.

Even Monrovia Chief of Police Roger Johnson recognizes the problem.

"It's not something that's new," Johnson said last week. "It's something that's continuing for the foreseeable future until we're able to bring under control the gang violence that's occurring in this particular neighborhood."

But the bangers aren't targeting each other this time. The gangs have turned on innocents who happen to be the wrong color.

One of those victims was Sanders "Pete" Rollins, 64, who was killed yards from the front door of his home on Sherman Avenue.

To its credit, the Monrovia Police Department coordinates an anti-gang task force with deputies from Duarte. But clearly, there is either no money to run the suppression full time or not enough personnel to staff the project, which is known as DAMAGE - Duarte and Monrovia Anti Gang Enforcement.

And, Johnson said his department has been providing additional patrols to the neighborhood.

But clearly, it was more than patrols and well-established units that solved Shah's murder.

After they secured the overtime money from the Diamond Bar City Council, detectives and patrol deputies worked across jurisdictional lines to crack the case.

They worked their informant network and known fences, and identified most of the known second-story men from Corona to Hacienda Heights.

After that, detectives got warrants and recovered stolen property ranging from passports to savings bonds.

In Monrovia on Monday, no one was available at the police station to talk about the Rollins investigation. It's not clear if they've employed any of the same techniques.

There was also no one on hand to address the ongoing spate of racial violence that claimed the life of one black man, Rollins, and severely wounded a black teen earlier the same weekend.

Why?

"Off for the holiday," according to one

dispatcher.

Here's the lede from Brian Day's story which will appear in tomorrow's editions of the Whittier Daily News.

WHITTIER — A man and woman were found dead in their apartment Monday following an apparent murder suicide, authorities said.
The deceased were identified by neighbors as a 32-year-old woman and her 33-year-old boyfriend. Officials withheld their identities pending notification of next of kin.
The bodies were found by a friend shortly before 12:50 p.m. in a second-floor apartment in the 7600 block of Newlin Avenue, said Whittier police spokesman Jason Zhulke.
The friend called police, and officers responded to the report as a domestic violence call, Whitter police Lt. Wyatt Powell said.
Officers found the bodies in the bedroom of the apartment, officials said.

Brian is also reportoing that a 12-year-old was in the apartmetn at the time of the shooting. it is believed the young man is the son of the dead woman.

Police refused to tell Brian if the man shot the woman before shooting himself or vice-versa. They did find a gun at the scene.

View Larger Map

Still tracking down a lot of the details. But the map above shows the relative locations of Whittier's two murder suicides this year.

We think the dead woman in the most recent case is Suzanna or Suzanne Jaramillo, 33. She apparently once worked for INS, but most recently was employed as a security guard. More details as they come into the newsroom.

The root of the Monrovia gang problem appears to be racial, according to city officials and others we interviewed for a story that will appear in Wednesday's Star-News and Tribune.

Here's the top of the story as it stands:

By Tania Chatila
and Frank C. Girardot
Staff Writers

MONROVIA — A spate of violence that left one man dead and a teenager wounded are acts of retaliation on the part of rival black and Latino gangs, authorities said Tuesday.
The activity in Monrovia continued late Monday when three men were shot at but not hit.
Police announced an arrest in the case Tuesday and acknowledged an increase in gang violence over the past several months.
“This is a particularly bad time,” Monrovia police Chief Roger Johnson said. “There are rival gangs going at each other. It’s a very bad time.”

When I heard the sirens and saw the flashing lights of two Monrovia patrol cars whizzing down Huntington Drive Monday night, first thing I thought of was: "No. Couldn't be another shooting. Or could it?"

Sure enough, seconds later, I watched as police set up a perimeter in the 200 block of West Cypress Street. Turns out there was a drive-by shooting.

It seems the violence in Monrovia is growing, and residents of the area are not surprised. I spoke with more than a dozen residents Monday night - including students of Monrovia High - who knew all about rising tensions between Black and Hispanic gangs.

Turns out last night's shooting - though it may have had been fueled by a domestic dispute - involved two adult Black men who shot an adult Hispanic man.

We're just getting more information about the incident this morning. Attempts to talk a sergeant at the scene last night were unsuccessful. One officer kept saying this: "140 E. Lime. That's the Police Department." Yah, I know.

Look for a story in tomorrow's paper.

 Tania Chatila is on the scene of the fatal shooting that occurred this a.m. in Rowland Heights. SHeriff's officials say at least three people were shot about 7:20 a.m. this morning.
View Larger Map

10:46 a.m. UPDATE

The shooting was an attempted murder suicide. A man apparently shot his 26-year-old daughter and 50-year-old wife before killing himself in the Rowland Heights incident. We now have a photographer on scene in the apparently gated community.

Steve Cooley's office put their statement on the Harris case up on the web this afternoon. It's the same statement handed out to reporters Tuesday. Here's the text:

LOS ANGELES – District Attorney Steve Cooley issued the following statement today on the murder of Monica Thomas Harris, victim in a family violence case:

“The tragic murder of Monica Thomas Harris is a matter of great concern to those of us in the District Attorney’s Office. 

“Yesterday I ordered an internal analysis of the circumstances leading up to the release of her estranged husband and murderer.  That investigation will continue and will determine whether there were any violations of office policy and/or failure to follow procedures established for these types of cases.

“The overall assessment will be conducted jointly by Head Deputy Victoria Adams of the Family Violence Division and the Director Pamela Booth who has oversight over the Pomona Branch Office.  They will report their findings directly to me.”

The Tournament is over, the year has begun.

Whittier and Monrovia reporting shots from a gun.

As for injuries, we're not sure yet.

But we on the cases.

You can bet.