Baldwin Park comes back to the impound game

After a few months of laying low. Baldwin Park returned to the impound game in a big way just before St. Patrick’s Day, according to Lt. Dave Reynoso. Here’s the story:

A police checkpoint held Friday night and Saturday morning resulted in 62 citations, 33 impounds and 12 arrests, police said Monday.

(snip)

Reynoso said the arrests were as follows:

* Four men for driving under the influence

* Four men and one woman for not having a driver’s license or any identification

* One man for an existing warrant

* Two men for obstructing officers during a vehicle impound. Reynoso said the men were passengers. The driver was not involved in the incident and not arrested.

Anyone got video of the event? We will post it online

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Dispute at Baldwin Park AA meeting ends with woman shot in the head

Baldwin Park leads the day’s news:

BALDWIN PARK – An argument between two men during an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting led to a woman being shot in the head Thursday night.

Officers are looking for the shooter.

Baldwin Park police Lt. Joe Bartolotti said the woman is the wife of one of the men.

The shooting broke out about 7:30 p.m. in a church parking lot at Stewart Avenue and Los Angeles Street.

Bartolotti said the men got into a fight during an AA meeting held at the church. He didn’t know what the dispute was about.

The fight spilled into the parking lot. Bartolotti said one of the men pulled out a gun and fired once.

The round didn’t hit the other man who police said was the intended target. The man’s wife who was sitting in a car was shot instead.

Police weren’t sure if the husband was also inside the car at the time of the shooting.

The vehicle rolled across the street and came to rest at the curb.

Bartolotti said the woman was taken to Los Angeles County USC Medical Center where she was listed in stable condition.

The suspect fled the scene. He was only described as a Latino about 20 wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans.

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It’s Baldwin Park

In a pair of blog posts a few months ago I casually referred to Baldwin Park as Bolen Parque. It upset and angered plenty of people in Hub City of the San Gabriel Valley and for that I apologize.

Especially ticked off were those in city government who don’t want their town’s good name besmirched by association with gang monikers.
Okay. I get it. It won’t happen again.

As it was never my intent to offend the good people of Baldwin Park, those posts have been removed. 
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Say goodbye to red light cameras California

This from Calwatch:

While the state collects millions of dollars from red-light cameras at intersections, a few California cities are starting to question whether the safety benefits are worth the high cost to their own coffers.

Other cities have rejected automatic ticketing programs as well, including Union City near San Jose, Yucaipa and Costa Mesa, Cupertino, Compton, El Monte, Fairfield, Fresno, Fullerton, Indian Wells, Irvine, Maywood, Montclair, Moreno Valley, Paramount, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Roseville, San Carlos, Santa Fe Springs, Santa Maria, Santa Rosa and Upland.

Sadly neither Pasadena nor Baldwin Park make the list of California cities reconsidering the cost effectiveness of red light cameras.

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Baldwin Park shakes its money maker — resumes checkpoints in the Hub Cap of the SGV

Towing fees put $1.2 million into Bolen Parque’s city coffers in 2009, so you can see why (in a tough economy) the city needs checkpoints. Read more here.

On the other side, James Hunley isn’t the most credible source when it comes to attacking city policies. Hunley was recently arrested for practically stalking the owner of Royal Coaches.
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Pizza Hut delivery man attacked in Baldwin Park

For the third time in several weeks, a Pizza delivery man has been attacked and robbed in Baldwin Park. Police have no suspects.

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BALDWIN PARK – A Pizza Hut delivery man was struck on the head with a crowbar and robbed of cash and pizzas by two robbers Monday night.


The man was treated at Kaiser Permanente Baldwin Medical Center and released, said Baldwin Park Police Lt. Joe Bartolotti. 

The robbery was reported at 7:22 p.m. in the 3100 block of Vineland Avenue.

“He gets out to make his delivery and was approached by two subjects. One has a crowbar and hits him on the head,” Bartolotti said.

The robbers fled with the money and the pizzas.

The suspect with the crowbar was described as Latino or white, 15 to 17, with short hair and wearing a gray shirt and black shorts.

The other suspect was described as a Latino, 15 to 17, with a black bandanna over his face and wearing a black hat or baseball cap, black shirt and black pants.

Police aren’t sure if Monday’s incident was related to the three robberies of pizza delivery men last year but did say it happened within the same area. The suspects in the earlier robberies were armed with knives and also took pizza and cash.

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Misconduct case makes waves in West Covina and Baldwin Park PDs

From Thomas Himes:

West Covina police have opened an investigation into one of their own after the victim of an alleged rape accused a sergeant assigned to sexual crimes investigations of propositioning her.

In a related, but separate investigation, officials said Thursday the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department will probe allegations of misconduct against Baldwin Park police Chief Lili Hadsell, per her request.

A 49-year-old woman told West Covina police investigators Monday that a sergeant propositioned and sexually harassed her during and after a rape investigation he conducted.

The woman alleges she was raped by her estranged husband, a prominent San Gabriel doctor who is Hadsell’s brother. Her estranged husband did not return phone calls seeking comment.

“I was raped, going through a nasty divorce and then they stick me with this cop,” the woman said in an interview. “He harassed me through the whole investigation. I was scared. I’m still scared.

“Who do you trust?” she said.

The sergeant under investigation did not return calls seeking comment.

West Covina police Chief Frank Wills said his department will investigate the woman’s claims. He added the law limits what he can say about police personnel matters.

“The department is aware of the allegations and is taking appropriate steps to look into those allegations,” Wills said.

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Former Baldwin Park High School star gets 31 years

A man who might have been one of the NFL’s best ever will spend several years in the penitentiary for attacking his girlfriend. Lawrence Phillips, who went from Baldwin Park to the University of Nebraska to the NFL, lived life on the edge

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SAN DIEGO – Ex-NFL running back Lawrence Phillips has been sentenced to more than 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens.

Phillips, 34, a former Baldwin Park football star, was sentenced Friday in San Diego for assault and other crimes.

Phillips told the judge he didn’t get a fair trail and he’ll appeal. He switched lawyers several times in the trial, and told friends and family members that he felt like he was badly misrepresented by the public defenders who were assigned to him.

Phillips twice choked his girlfriend in 2005 in San Diego. Later that year, he aimed his car and struck three teens after a pickup football game in Los Angeles.

That car belong to the San Diego victim, and Phillips was originally charged with stealing it.

Ty Pagone, a former Baldwin Park vice principal and football coach who was at the school when Phillips attended it, said he was “horrified” to hear the length of the sentence.

“There are murderers who get shorter sentences and he didn’t kill anyone,” said Pagone. “I don’t think he ever even put anyone in the hospital.”

Pagone added that he believed Phillips did need to answer for his crimes.

“There are no doubt he has made mistakes, but he is not a monster, the way he has been depicted sometimes,” he added.

Pagone said two of Phillips’ other former coaches had attended the hearing in San Diego, Tony Zane of Baldwin Park,

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