Elderly man visiting Arcadia from China reported missing

0819_NWS_PSN-L-ARCMISSING

ARCADIA >> Police are seeking a 78-year-old man visiting Arcadia from China who went for a walk and never returned Thursday morning.
Tong Huang was last seen about 7:30 a.m. on the area Huntington Drive and Sunset Boulevard, Arcadia police said in a written statement.
Huang, who is visiting family in Arcadia, has been in the U.S. for about a month and speaks only Mandarin, police said.
“Mr. Huang has been in the habit of taking a morning walk and did so this morning, however, did not return as usual,” according to the police statement. “He has no money, no phone, and no destination other than the Arcadia relatives. Mr. Huang is in good health.”
He’s described as Asian, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 140 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes. He was last seen wearing a white shirt, gray pants and black shoes.
Anyone who spots Huang is asked to contact local law enforcement, or Arcadia police at 626-574-5123.

PHOTO of Tong Huang courtesy of the Arcadia Police Department.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email

UPDATED: Teenage brothers found beaten to death in Arcadia apartment, uncle sought


ARCADIA >> Homicide detectives are seeking a man they say beat his two teenage nephews to death inside their Arcadia apartment Friday.
The bodies of the two brothers, ages 15 and 16, were discovered by their parents at about 12:40 p.m. at the family home in the 400 block of Fairview Avenue, just west of Holly Avenue, Lt. Eddie Hernandez of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
Deyun_ShiThe suspect in the double slaying, the victims’ 44-year-old uncle by marriage, Deyun Shi, remained at large Friday night. Investigators said the suspect was believed to have boarded an airplane to China sometime Friday. The FBI was working with Chinese authorities.
Hernandez declined to discuss what type of weapon was used in the attack, but said both victims appeared to have suffered “blunt force trauma.”
One of the bodies was found upstairs and the other downstairs, Hernandez said. The two-story apartment sits on top of a parking garage.
Hernandez said that at the time the slayings were discovered, Shi was already being sought in connection with an attack on his wife Thursday night in La Cañada Flintridge.
“He found out his wife had filed a restraining order against him and began divorce proceedings,” Hernandez said. “That may have been a motive. We’re not sure,” Hernandez said.
Shi’s wife was treated for serious injuries suffered when her husband hit her with a tool of some sort, he said. The injury was not life-threatening.
Officials said the fugitive suspect was married to the sister of the slain boys’ father.
ARCBODY1The parents of the victims, who lived at the Arcadia apartment with their sons, went to visit the victim of the domestic assault late Thursday.
They arrived home late at night and didn’t notice anything wrong before going to bed, Hernandez said. When they awoke the following day, they discovered their sons dead.
It was unclear exactly when the killings took place.
There were signs of forced entry to the home, Hernandez said. It appeared the killer may have forced his way through the apartment’s front door.
Deputies recovered Shi’s GMC Yukon SUV Friday, but the alleged killer himself remained at large.
“Detectives have recovered the suspect vehicle and have learned that the suspect has boarded a plane to Beijing, China,” according to Deputy Lisa Jansen of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Sheriff’s investigators were working with the FBI and law enforcement officials in China to apprehend the international fugitive, authorities said.
Shi is Chinese, 5 feet 6 inches tall, 155 pounds, with black hair and black eyes, according to a sheriff’s department wanted flier.
He is known to frequent the Santa Anita Inn, 130 W. Huntington Drive in Arcadia, stays with a friend in Alhambra and conducts business in San Gabriel, officials said.
Several residents said they didn’t see or hear anything unusual prior to officers swarming the neighborhood Friday.
Hari Gampala, 45, said he was home all day and noticed nothing out of the ordinary. The apartment complex appeared calm and quiet when he walked by it about 11:45 a.m., he said.
Many neighbors expressed shock to see a homicide investigation unfolding in their normally sedate suburb. And even more so once they learned the victims were two teenage boys.
Detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are assisting Arcadia police in the investigation, and Arcadia police officials deferred comment to their counterparts in the sheriff’s department.
Anyone with information is asked to contact homicide detectives at 323-890-5500. Tips also may be submitted anonymously to L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.

SCENE PHOTO by Walt Mancini

SUSPECT PHOTO courtesy of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email

Chinese birth tourists: debate boils over (月子中心)

Birth tourists at Costco in Industry

In Chinese they are known as 月子中心 (roughly translated that’s the month of the center). Essentially these locations cater to a Chinese tradition that requires confinement of pregnant women immediately before (and for a month after) they give birth. The classier places offer a variety of services.

For the women who participate, the goal is to have a child who is a U.S. citizen, thus afforded a passport and citizenship exemptions at the best universities.

Neighbors don’t like the centers so much. They bring noise, traffic and trash problems.

Nonetheless birthing centers are legal and have been in the news for quite some time.

Attached is a photo I took of women enrolled at a Rowland Heights birthing center who were shopping at Costco in Industry.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email

Beijing man with ties to Hacienda Heights appears in federal court

This from a United States Department of Justice press release:

The vice president of a Hacienda Heights company made his initial appearance in federal court this afternoon after being arrested over the weekend on charges of exporting high-tech integrated circuits to China in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). 

William Chai-Wai Tsu, 61, a resident of Beijing, was taken into custody by federal agents Saturday afternoon at the Commerce Casino. According to court documents, Tsu illegally shipped at least 200 of the sophisticated integrated circuits to China. At this afternoon’s hearing, a United States Magistrate Judge scheduled Tsu’s formal arraignment for February 2. Tsu will remain in federal custody pending a bond hearing Thursday. If convicted of the export violation alleged in a criminal complaint filed in United States District Court in Los Angeles, the naturalized U.S. citizen faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison.

Federal investigators executed a search warrant Saturday morning at a Hacienda Heights home Tsu allegedly used to receive business-related shipments and correspondence for a company called Cheerway, Inc. During the search, agents seized computer equipment, financial documents and other suspected controlled items believed to be linked to the case. 

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email

Locals suspected of sending illegal exports to China

This from a U.S. Justice Department press release:

Sam Ching Sheng Lee, Part-Owner and Chief Operations Manager of Multimillion Business Associate Corporation (“MBA”), and his nephew, Charles Yu Hsu Lee, made initial appearances in United Stated District Court in Los Angeles today on federal charges related to a conspiracy to procure and illegally export sensitive technology to the People’s Republic of China.
        Sam Lee, 63, native of China, and Charles Lee, 31, native of Taiwan, were arrested on Tuesday morning in Hacienda Heights, California.  Both men are charged in an indictment filed on December 16, 2008, and unsealed today with felony counts of conspiracy and exporting national security controlled items without a license in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and Export Administration Regulations.        
        The indictment alleges that Sam Lee and Charles Lee, doing business as MBA, an import/export business located in Hacienda Heights, assisted persons in China to illegally procure export controlled thermal-imaging cameras.  During the period between April 2002 and July 2007, defendants allegedly exported a total of ten thermal-imaging cameras to China in circumvention of export laws.  After being advised of strict export restrictions, Charles Lee allegedly purchased the cameras from U.S. suppliers for approximately $9,500 a piece by withholding the fact that the devices were destined to China.  His uncle, Sam Lee, then received the devices and through his Hacienda Heights company, arranged for their shipment to Shanghai, China without obtaining proper licenses.  One of the recipients is alleged to be an employee of a company in Shanghai engaged in the development of infrared technology.       
        The thermal-imaging cameras are controlled for export to China by the Department of Commerce for national security and regional stability reasons because of their use in a wide variety of military and civilian applications.  At no time did Sam Lee or Charles Lee have authorization in the form of a license from the Department of Commerce to export the thermal-imaging cameras to China.
        “Combating the illegal flow of highly sensitive U.S. technology to foreign countries is vital to our national security, ” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien.  “The multi-agency efforts leading to the arrests in this case demonstrate our unyielding dedication to aggressively prosecute those who engage in such conduct.”     
        If convicted, both men face a maximum statutory penalty of 25 years in federal prison.

Facebook Twitter Reddit Tumblr Linkedin Email