Fallen hero from Wilson High recalled

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Last week I began a poll to determine if Crime Scene readers thought it would be appropriate to post a post-mortem picture of Maurice Clemons, the killer of four police officers in Lakewood, Washington on Nov. 29.

I’d say the jury’s still out on the photo. In any event, it turns out that Greg Richards, a 1985 graduate of Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights was one of the four cops who was tragically gunned down.
He’s the SGV Tribune’s “Hero of the Week.”
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Innocent bystander killed in Chino shootout

Police attempting to stop a robbery get involved in a shootout that left one man dead. The suspected robbers have San Gabriel Valley ties according to this story, which ran in Tuesday’s Daily Bulletin:

CHINO – An innocent bystander on Sunday was killed during a shootout involving police and two men who had attempted to rob a restaurant.

A Chino police officer and two suspects in the robbery were also hospitalized following the incident.

Police said Daniel Baledran, 21, of Rubidoux was shot to death by a police officer during the shootout near the Papa John’s restaurant on 12615 Central Avenue.

Baledran was in the immediate area of the restaurant when the shots were fired and was considered an “innocent victim,” said Michelle Van Der Linden, Chino public information officer.

Police officers initially thought Baledran was part of the robbery, but investigators later determined he was not.

<snip>

On Monday evening, the suspects – Edward Cisneros of La Mirada and Joel Anthony Jaquez of Hacienda Heights, both about 28 years old – were in critical condition and awaiting surgery, Van Der Linden said.  

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Man attempts to grab young boy off street — stopped by mom

Cops said this isn’t related to an incident that occurred in West Covina in early January, but the circumstances sure seem similar. Here’s the story:

HACIENDA HEIGHTS – A man jumped out of a car Wednesday and tried to grab an 8-year-old walking to school, but the attacker released the boy when he realized the child’s mother was following a mere 15 feet behind, officials said.
“The mother saw it and yelled at the guy to let go of the boy,” said Industry Sheriff’s Sgt. Tom Wilson. “He jumped back in the car and fled.”

The boy and his mother were on their way to Palm Elementary School in Hacienda Heights at about 8 a.m. when a gray car pulled up along side him. A man got out of the car and grabbed the boy, authorities said.

Wilson said the man was driving a gray two-door Honda Civic with a missing front bumper and tinted rear windows.

The man is described as a 49-to-50 year old Hispanic, standing about 5 feet 4 inches and weighing about 200 pounds, Wilson said. He has dark, short hair shaved on the sides, a thin mustache and a scar in the shape of a “V” under his left eye.

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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. 

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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.

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Sex offenders sent packing

Apparently the state has suspended payments to a home for registered sex offenders in Hacienda Heights. As a result several Megan’s Law registrants will be transient for at least tonight, officials said.

The home in the 14300 block of Ansford Street in Hacienda Heights is near a group home at 14523 Ansford Street officials said. Several of the registrants were recently placed in the home.

All are fitted with GPS tracking devices, officials said.

Here’s our story so far:

HACIENDA HEIGHTS – A half-dozen convicted sex offenders may be sleeping on the streets as they are faced with the threat of eviction due to a bounced government check, an attorney said.

Attorney Mike Balmer, who represents one of the registrants living in the home, said a government-issued check bounced, causing the sex registrants living in the home in the 14000 block of Ansford Street to be evicted.

“There’s nothing we can do about it,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Paul Puchalski, of the Industry station. “As long as they don’t commit a crime, we can’t much help it if they are getting evicted.”

California State Department of Corrections spokesman Gordon Hinkle said he could not immediately provide details of the situation, but said in general, “The state and corrections does not have a responsibility to provide housing for any parolee.”

“It’s something we do an a case by case basis,” Hinkle said, “in the best interest of rehabilitation and public safety.”

Balmer said the residents of the home were told to vacate by Friday evening.

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Fifty cops; no luck

Deputies with the Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau hunted a hacienda Heights neighborhood for four folks suspected in a robbery. Interestingly enough, Sheriff’s homicide detectives also participated in the search as did human tracking bloodhounds.
In the end, the searchers had no luck. But we learned something interesting about schools in the Hacienda La Puente school district — they’ve become old pros on lockdown.
Here’s a link to Daniel Tedford’s story, which contained a startling admission from a school district administrator:

Students at Kwis Elementary School, Newton Middle School, Los Altos High School and Shadybend Elementary School were kept in classrooms from the start of school until noon while authorities searched for two of the four suspects.
School officials were not fazed.
“This is a very normal situation. They always notify our school district,” said Norman Hsu, school board member for the Hacienda-La Puente District. “These happen very often. This is not the first time. This is like the fourth time this month.”

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A busy morning for the daily fishwrap

GLENDORA — A Glendora man turned himself in Tuesday morning in connection with a stabbing that occurred Monday night on the patio of a Starbucks, authorities said.

Jacob Westin, 18, was arrested on suspicion of stabbing a man on the patio of a Starbucks on the 1800 block of East Route 66 last night around 10 p.m., Glendora police Lt. Ernie Didier said.

WHITTIER – Sheriff’s deputies are searching for an attempted burglary suspect in Whittier, authorities said.

The deputies responded at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday morning to a “burglary in process” at the 11500 block of Havenwood Drive, said Sgt. Della Walls of the Pico Rivera sheriff’s station.

HACIENDA HEIGHTS – Officials have released the name of a 20-year-old La Puente man found dead at the scene of a shooting Sunday.

Paulo Orozco Campos was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. in the driveway of a house in the 15400 block Los Robles Avenue, Los Angeles County Department of Coroner Chief of Operations Craig Harvey said.

MONROVIA – Hazmat* 720 E Huntington, Monrovia; Battalion 10 Incident Commander, large
amount of toxic cloud from closed up metal commerical structure. Req Hazmat
units. Mutual Aid: Burbank and Glendale. Red 2@10:03PM CABN01 ### 

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A sign of fearful and doomed times?

We heard this call on the scanner about 3 p.m. this afternoon. Draw your own conclusions:

HACIENDA HEIGHTS – A woman who looked pregnant and had a young child waiting in her car swiped a charity bucket on Tuesday from a CVS Pharmacy.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s Lt. Mark Relyea said the woman took the bucket from the CVS at 887 Hacienda Blvd. around 3 p.m.

Relyea did not say how much money was in the bucket.

The “heavyset” woman left in a white Toyota Corolla, Relyea said.

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A crazy tale

This from Brian Day:

It begins like a joke.,..two guys walk into a bank …and hilarity ensues… Sadly ending in a high speed crash on a residential street.

Police responded to a report of a robbery in the parking lot of B of A on Azusa Avenue in Hacienda Heights.

No one knows what happened next or at least between the two men, but both men claimed the other tried to rob him. When cops arrived one of the men fled across the street into a neighborhood and hid on a rooftop. He was found and arrested pretty quick.

The other guy jumped into a ’80s Oldsmobile and sped off from the bank parking lot at high speed. Cops called for a helicopter and chased the old Olds on Wedgeworth Drive where it crashed into a parked Toyota…. (BTW this is pretty close to Monday’s copper theft from the Little League) and pursuit went near Wilson High and an elementary school…. 

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