shooting: May 2008 Archives

It's nice to see that the Sheriff's homicide bureau and Mike Antonovich's office finally agree that a reward should be offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Sammantha Salas' killers.

Salas was killed Jan. 26 and by my math that makes five months of investigation without a resolution. Homicide detectives felt that incremental releases of information and ultimately the reward would keep publicity in the case from waning. Based on the story's position Friday in our most viewed stories list, it appears that they were right about sustaining publicity in the case.

The supes will still have to vote on the reward. It's should be on **Wednesday's agenda,** but hasn't been added yet, i'll keep monitoring that.

6:05 p.m. Friday **Antonovich's flack, Tony Bell, tells me that the Supes meet Wednesday instead of Tuesday next week in deference to Tuesday's primary election.**

As for the two being sought, the electronic files containing two composite drawings of men* sought in connection with the Salas case and another shooting are named ... 

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors will vote to offer a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of suspects in the Jan. 26 shooting death of Sammantha Salas, Supervisor Mike Antonovich's spokesman Tony Bell told me this morning.

The reward will be voted on this coming Tuesday, Bell said.

Bell had been discussing the case with Lt. Dan Rosenberg of Sheriff's homicide,. it was Rosenbverg who made the decision to offer the reward. The hope is that nearly five months after Salas was shot to death in front of an apartment in an unincorporated portion of Monrovia, that someone will come forward with information in the case, Rosenberg said.

Here's the Star-news Web page, with details of the ongoing violence in Monrovia.

And here's the text from a press release put out by Judy Hammond the county's PIO:

LOS ANGELES COUNTY - Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Samantha Salas, a 16-year old youth.
 
On Saturday, January 26, 2008, Ms. Salas was fatally shot while walking with a friend, on the 2500 block of Peck Road near Longden Avenue in the unincorporated area of Monrovia, after being approached by two male suspects on foot. 
 
The two suspects are described as African-American in their 20's, wearing dark colored bandanas or hooded sweatshirts, and members of the Du Rock Crips gang.

The Los Angeles County Sherriff's Homicide Bureau is seeking information to assist in their investigation.  Supervisor Antonovich encourages witnesses of this crime or anyone with information to contact the Lt. Dan Rosenberg at the Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5580.

 

I've heard so many different versions of this story today that my head is spinning. City News Service got bad information early from Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau and it spread like a virus through local news outlets.

As an example, KFI had to contend with a deputy at the SHB that was completely unfamiliar with the case. There's a whole story to be told about the decimation of SHB, but I'll save that for another day

In KFI's case the result was that Eric Leonard's story alluded to five men being named suspects in the case. In fact it's two men, one teen boy and two teen girls.

KNBC did a nice job with the wanted part of the story but left out the particulars about the other arrests. (They also used a lot of SGV Tribune copy to round out their tale -- thanks KNBC)

Here's AP's first story as it moved:

Date: 05/28/2008 11:45 PM

BC-CA--911 Killing/160
Eds: APNewsNow.
4 teens arrested, 5th sought for murder during 911 call

Text below is from the Sheriff's wanted poster:

On March 19, 2008 (Wednesday) at 1140 hours, Victim Michelle Hsu was shot and killed by intruders in her Covina Hills home.

The victim was on the telephone with a 911 operator when the suspects killed her to avoid capture and arrest.

After a lengthy investigation, detectives have identified Suspect Victor Manuel Maurtua as one of five suspects involved in the murder.

Suspect Maurtua is a known El Monte Flores gang member and was last known to frequent the Baldwin Park area.

*Update: City News Service has finally picked up on this (even though they had a copy of our story since Saturday). But what's being reported is wrong. The Sheriff's Information Bureau told CNS that there are no other suspects identified and no arrests have been made. CNS is working to correct their report.

Five persons have been charged in the March murder of Michelle Chien, aka Hsia Hong Hsu.

Here's an excerpt of the charge sheet from the DAs office:

BOOKING BAIL CUSTODY
DEFENDANT CII NO. DOB NO. RECOM'D R'TN DATE

SANTANA, CHRISTOPHER KEVIN  NO BAIL
MAURTUA, VICTOR MANUEL         NO BAIL
STRATIS, CHRISTOPHER               NO BAIL
ALEGRE, CHRISTINE                     NO BAIL
FERNANDEZ, MEGALI                   NO BAIL

 You can see the DAs indictment on the jump

All are looking at potential death sentences. Maurtua remains at large.

*All this information jibes with a story we published Saturday indicating the arrests had ocurred.

Sources close to the investigation told me earlier this week that three teens have been arrested in connection with the slaying of Michele Chien, a.k.a Hsiao Hsu, at a home in the Covina Hills on March 19 this year.

The motive for the slaying more and more appears to have been a burglary gone bad.

Law enforcement sources said the gunman is still being sought.

Here's most of the story that will appear in tomorrow's newspaper:

Authorities have arrested three teens in connection with the slaying of a Covina Hills woman shot to death while on the phone with a 9-1-1 operator, sources close to the investigation said Friday.
Sheriff's homicide Lt. Dan Rosenberg acknowledged that arrests have been made in the slaying, but declined to provide more specific information.
"We got some arrests," Rosenberg said. "But I have to talk to my detectives about what we put out beyond that. They want to put a flier out, and they are waiting to get everything lined up."
At least one of the teens is a resident of Azusa, the sources said. Other law enforcement sources said the teens were linked to the crime by a van that was reported leaving the scene.
The suspected gunman remains at large, the sources said.
Hsiao Hong Hsu, 45, also known as Michelle Chien, was shot to death March 19 while on the phone with a dispatcher to report a break in.
Hsu was shot as many as five times, authorities said. Two shots occurred while Hsu was on the phone.
The gunman shot her three more times while chasing her through her home in the 19700 block of Cameron Avenue in an unincorporated portion of Los Angeles County known as the Covina Hills, authorities said.
California law requires police to identify suspects booked into jail except when they are juveniles. The same provisions of public records law allow police to withhold the names of suspects who have been arrested and released without charges being filed.
Rosenberg would not say if either provision of the law applied to the suspects in the case.
A law enforcement source interviewed Thursday said Hsu's killing apparently stemmed from a burglary gone bad.
"Although (other scenarios) haven't been ruled out," the source said.

Police say a 22-year-old Baldwin Park resident was shot and killed in an unprovoked attack near the intersection of Ramona and Merced *Tuesday night.

The dead man was riding with two women in a car when the attack occurred. The shooter apparently sped off.

No arrests have been made, detectives said they have no leads in the case.

Busy couple of days in the SGV and surrounding neighborhoods:

• In La Puente a man was killed following a dispute near Stimpson and Fairgrove.

LA PUENTE - Deputies responding to a 9-1-1 call reporting a fight in a residential neighborhood Sunday discovered the body of a man lying in the street, authorities said.

The incident was reported about 4:30 p.m. on Stimson Avenue, just south of Fairgrove Avenue, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Dan Jackson.

Two men believed to be participants in the fight were stopped leaving the area in a pickup truck and taken to the sheriff's Industry station for questioning, Jackson said, however it was not known if they were suspects in the attack.

It was not clear how the man died, Jackson said, though witnesses who reported the fight told officials there was a knife involved.

A sheriff's press release put out Monday morning indicates the man died as the result of blunt force trauma and may have been run over.

• An officer involved shooting in El Monte left a suspect wounded and in custody:

EL MONTE - Police shot and wounded a parolee Friday who allegedly tried to run down officers in a stolen van, authorities said.

A police officer suffered minor injuries in the incident, sheriff's officials said.

The suspect, a San Bernardino County man in his 20s whose name was not released, was reported to be in stable condition at an area hospital, said Sgt. Bill Marsh of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

He was wounded in both arms, said El Monte police Lt. Dan Burlingham.

The suspect was later determined to be a parolee with a felony warrant for his arrest, Marsh said. The specific nature of the warrant was not known Sunday.

• A suspected copper thief is believed responsible for a small brush fire in Industry.

The blaze was reported about noon near the freeway's Valley Boulevard off-ramp, said Los Angeles County Fire Department Supervising Dispatcher Bryan Webb.

No structures were damaged or threatened by the flames, and no injuries were reported, said Firefighter Jayson Mendoza.

The fire was sparked by Edison electrical equipment after someone apparently tampered with it earlier, Mendoza said.

• Pomona people protest police checkpoints:

POMONA - A weekend checkpoint caused residents to express concern and accusations to fly at a City Council meeting on Monday.

Councilwoman Cristina Carrizosa said residents were frightened and that the behavior of officers reminded her of movie scenes depicting the Gestapo.

Several people spoke at the meeting about Saturday afternoon's DUI checkpoint at Mission Boulevard and San Antonio Avenue.

Police Chief Joe Romero said the remarks about the Gestapo were offensive to the officers at the checkpoint and that they were owed an apology.

Pomona businessman Francisco Espinoza said the checkpoints targeted Latinos and urged the council to "take control of the city."

"Take it back. You control the Police Department, and you work for us," he said.

 

Reporter Brian Day's story on Tuesday's officer involved shooting in Covina has the first actual quotes by representatives of Glenn Patrick Rose's family.

Here's the story top:

COVINA - Details continue to emerge about a fatal officer-involved shooting earlier this week and the local man who was killed.

The driver, Glenn Patrick Rose, 25, was shot to death by police. Rose and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Sarah Morales, were both zapped with a Taser prior to the shooting and Rose had been convicted twice before of fleeing police, according to police and court documents.

Rose and Morales were inside an allegedly stolen pickup truck when he rammed a car being used for cover by a sheriff's deputy and a California Highway Patrol officer, said sheriff's Lt. Dan Coleman.

Records show that Rose was convicted of evading police in July 2001 and May 2002. He had also been found guilty of grand theft and driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.

Brian Claypool and Eric Maier, attorneys representing Rose's family, said Rose had no history of violent crime and that the 6- and 7-year-old convictions only bolster their belief that he was merely trying to evade officials, not attack them.

"When the officers opened fire, they didn't know that (Rose had a criminal record)," Claypool said, adding that past deeds do not excuse bad decisions made by officials.

"He was really doing a lot to change his life," Claypool added. "He was really working hard."

Though Rose had a drug problem in the past, he had been sober for more than four years, Claypool said.

After two days of intensive reporting Brian Day is set to report several new revelations that have emerged from his investigation into the slaying of Glenn Patrick Rose.

Among those revelations, Rose had been Tasered prior to an officer involved shooting that led to his death. Additionally he had been convicted of participating in at least two police pursuits in 2001 and 2002.

On Tuesday morning, Rose was shot to death by deputies from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and officers from the California Highway Patrol. The shooting occurred after Rose led officers on a high speed pursuit from Walnut through West Covina.

Rose, a woman who was riding in the car with him, and the officers ended up in a Covina alleyway near First and Puente avenues in Covina.

Once there, officers said Rose attempted to steal another car before attempting to run them down.

As many as 15 shots were fired and Rose was killed.

Here's the new information:

• Rose was Tasered before he was shot, according to an autopsy performed by the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner.
• Rose had a criminal record in Los Angeles County that included convictions for fleeing officers in 2001 and 2002. His record also included convictions for grand theft and driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.
• An attorney hired by Rose's family to possibly file a wrongful death lawsuit against the county told Day in an interview Friday he was unaware of convictions, but believes it bolsters his case; as Rose was never charged with violent crimes stemming from previous pursuits.
• Rose's family and friends as well as the attorney told also told reporter Day that Rose, who previously had a substance abuse problem, had turned his life around and was attending a 12-step program.
• Rose's girlfriend Sarah Rebecca Morales remains in custody for her role in the pursuit. She is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail.

Much of this continues to be debated in a Topix forum that's been pretty heated.

As a sample, here's an anonymous comment from a person identified as a friend of both Rose and Morales:

 I knew Sarah and Patrick very well. I was in sober living with Patrick and knew Sarah from her job at Alpha Omega. She was and is a sweet young lady. It is so sad to see what the drugs and alcohol do to us and how we turn into a totally different person once we are on them. I am in recovery and have been sober for four years. I know the strugles of staying clean and sober. I relapsed many times befor I got the four years I have today. The one thing that AA tell us is,(If we do not stop doing the drugs and drinking and work the Spiritual Program put befor us, that we are doomed to Jails, Institutions or Death. It is just really sad and ashame that Patrick had to draw the death card, because when he was sober he was a very good person and helped many.) I have seen so many guys that I care about and that have been through the sober living that I went through and managed go back to prison and institutions that it really hurts. But, Sarah and all of the men that have had to go to jail or back to prison are the lucky ones, because they can resume there lives once they have served there time,

The death of Glenn Patrick Rose following a pursuit that ended in a hail of gunfire in a Covina alley is generating a lot of comment from friends and family in a Topix discussion of Amanda Baumfeld's story.

Here's a sample comment from someone identified as JoJo of Covina:

Those of us that knew Patrick know what cause's this type of behavior. Those of you that were close to him know exactly what I'm saying.

Several other commenters have taken up a defense of Rose on the site.

Meanwhile, Rose's girlfriend Sarah Rebecca Morales, 24, of Pomona was arraigned Thursday on three counts of assault on a police officer or firefighter and two counts of taking or driving a vehicle without the owner's consent.

She's being held in lieu of $60,000 bail at the same Lynwood facility that housed Paris Hilton last summer, according to the sheriff's inmate locator.

BTW, here's a link to the Trib's discussion forum, which is hosted by Topix.

Jennifer McLain will be reporting this story later today:

 A burlgary ring that involved dozens of homes and a victim who was fired on by a suspect was broken this week. The Temple City's Sheriff's Department arrested four people, including one female, who were led the ring. The woman was arraigned today at the Alhambra Courthouse.

Jen says the ring was operating in Rosemead, Monterey Park and Temple City. More on this as it becomes available.

Chuck Hubbs, who was the night city editor at the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner when I was a copy boy there, always had me running weekend casualty counts.

Every Friday and Saturday, just when I'd be getting ready to leave, he would exhort in his unmistakably deep voice. "Check those wires kid. See how many bodies have piled up."

I'd rip pieces of printer paper from machines that spit out copy from the Metro Wire and City News services and run them back to Chuck so that he could compile a daily body count for an inside page.

Some weekends were slow with one or two slayings. Others seemed quite busy; with eight, 10, even 15 killings.

I wonder how many of those even got solved?

This past weekend undoubtedly would have qualified as a slow one. And yet, it could have been quite deadly.

Young men were injured in shootings in Whittier and Pico Rivera.

A few other teens might have taken bullets in Baldwin Park. But somehow they were luckier than Jose Perez, 16. The Baldwin Park High student was shot to death talking to a friend outside a home in the 5000 block of Maine Avenue Saturday night.

By my count, Perez is the second student from that high school to succumb to gun violence this school year. That seems awfully high.

In November, Baldwin Park High student Luis Estrada, 14, and his father Pedro were gunned down by four attackers in front of their home in the 4000 block of Downing Avenue.

Three teens, all former Baldwin Park students, have been arrested in the case, officials said. A fourth remains at large. Gang rivalry apparently motivated the incident.

As they did in the Estrada case, school administrators promised Monday to provide grief counseling to anyone who needed it at Baldwin Park High School.

"The school will of course do something for the students who need the services," said Lynne Kennedy, associate superintendent for student achievement in the Baldwin Park district.
Although there is absolutely no indication that Perez had gang ties, it's pretty clear his attackers used gang tactics. Witnesses said the men drove slowly north on Maine Avenue. They flipped a U-turn, drove up to Perez and opened fire.

Because Perez had only just enrolled at Baldwin Park, and was killed on a Saturday night far away from campus, Kennedy claimed the slaying reflects more on the community at large than on the high school.

"You have to expect these things," she said. "There's crime in the city and there's going to be fall over to students who attend the school."

Kennedy also claimed that there is no gang problem at Baldwin Park High School, even as she pointed to the city's tenacious problem with three notorious groups.

This morning (as I do most mornings) I know I'll drive along Puente Avenue past Baldwin Park High on my way to work.

I'll watch the kids pass and wonder who is going to college? Who is going to Iraq? Or Afghanistan? Who is going to get married, settle down in town and raise another generation of students?

I'll have another question on my mind this morning though: Who will be the next name in my casualty count?

View Larger Map

From Brian Day's story:

BALDWIN PARK -- A 16-year-old boy was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting Saturday, authorities said.

Jose Perez of Baldwin Park was pronounced dead at the scene of the attack, which was reported about 9:15 p.m. in the 5000 block of Maine Avenue, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Rick Pedroza.

Perez's body was found across the street from a house party in the residential neighborhood, but police don't believe the party and the shooting were related.

A description of the shooter or the shooter's vehicle was not available.

Carlos Sanchez, 28, a life-long area resident, said he was standing with Perez minutes before the shooting occurred.

Sanchez said he had just gone over to the party across the street to get some food when people started shouting about a shooting.