Recently in Temple City Category

Authorities jailed an apologetic man Wednesday who said he carried out a robbery spree spanning the San Gabriel Valley and Inland Empire to pay his son's drug debts.
John Richard Boynton, 39, of Fontana is suspected in at least nine robberies or attempted robberies throughout the region, including a bank robbery in Temple City and a failed robbery at a Diamond Bar bank, officials said.
"He said he was sorry," Detective Gerald Wright of the sheriff's Walnut/Diamond Bar Station said.
Local investigators have linked Boynton to a Wednesday bank robbery at a Bank of the West branch in Temple City, as well as an attempted robbery at a Tomato Bank in Diamond Bar on Monday.
In addition, Boynton is suspected of five robberies in a 24-hour period in Rialto, Highland and Fontana on June 26, a robbery at the Pacific Western Bank in Chino on July 3 and July 7 robbery of a Hilton Hotel gift shop in Ontario, authorities said.
Boynton admitted the robberies and told investigators he was in financial trouble and needed to help his son pay drug debts, officials said.
In the Temple City and Diamond Bar crimes, Boynton carried a gun, demanded money with a note and brought a plastic bag to place the stolen money in, Wright said.
Police arrested Boynton near his Fontana home about 4 p.m. Wednesday after the Chino Department Crime Analysis Unit identified him as a suspect in recent robberies,authorities said.
Members of the Chino police Special Enforcement Team made the arrest without a struggle as he tried to drive away from his house.
Boynton was being held at the San Bernardino County West Valley Detention Center.

*Above: Police say an image from a surveillance camera during the July 8 robbery at the Bank of the West in Temple City depicts serial robbery suspect John Boynton, 39, of Fontana. (Courtesy of the FBI)

The mayor, a former mayor and a campaign fixer/suspected bagman who hoped to be on the council face some serious felony bribery/perjury charges after finally appearing in court Wednesday.

If you believe what the DA alleges, small-time greed drove these political hacks to basically extort a developer who may have been in over his head in the first place.

The truth of the matter is Temple City is probably not only local government corrupted by the easy cash that flows from developer's pockets. It's just that most developers aren't carrying around a pocket wire to record the transaction and burn the council. Here's an excerpt from our story on Boss Wilson and her crew:

LOS ANGELES - Temple City's mayor, its former mayor and a former City Council candidate were indicted Wednesday on felony charges of bribery, perjury and other counts related to a nine-month corruption probe into their dealings with a local developer.

The 21-count indictment was returned Monday by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury and unsealed Wednesday by Judge Patricia Schnegg at the criminal courts building in downtown Los Angeles.

Temple City Mayor Judy Wong was charged with six counts of bribery, three counts of perjury and one count of solicitation of bribery. Former mayor Cath Wilson was charged with three counts of bribery and three counts of perjury.

Former City Council candidate Scott Carwile, who was also once Wilson's campaign treasurer, was charged with four counts of perjury and one misdemeanor count of failing to report a campaign contribution.

"It's actually quite rare that we bring bribery charges, because of the nature of the crime," said Deputy District Attorney David Demerjian, who heads the DA's Public Integrity Division. "Normally, neither side involved in the bribery will report it to us. It's usually beneficial to them to just continue on with the conspiracy."

<snip> 

Bail was set at $250,000 for Wong, $150,000 for Wilson and $100,000 for Carwile. All three posted bail, were booked, and were ordered to return July 9 for a pre-trial hearing.

 

I received this update in the Netter case from an interested observer who asked to remain anonymous:

The jury has been selected in the DeAndre Netter murder trial.

I received a message from Mrs. Yvonne Netter who is in protective custody asking that the community pray for her and DeAndre's surviving twin brother DeJohn.

I hope you can give us updates on the trial. Many of us would like to attend but we fear retaliation from the Guerra and Lopez family.

As you may remember Chris Lopez' brother Matt Lopez coaches football at Temple City High School and this year he was also the JV Soccer Coach so we are afraid to be seen in the courtroom. Any updates are on the trial are greatly appreciated.

FYI: We will update the case this week

Phillip Guerra and Christopher Lopez, both 19, both charged with the murder of Deandre Netter in Temple City in 2007 will face a jury trial in Pasadena beginning on March 18, according the the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

Guerra and Lopez are suspected to have been part of a group of teens in Temple City that targeted blacks for violence.

DA's officials say search warrants were served at City Hall this morning and at 2 other locations. Three council members are under investigation for allegedly taking bribes from developer Randy Wang in exchange for providing smooth sailing to Wang's proposed mixed-use development on Las Tunas.

*UPDATE 1:42 p.m. from reporter Alfred Lee:

Investigators searched City Hall and five (not two) residences: Mayor Cathe Wilson, council members Judy Wong and David Capra, former City Council candidate Scott Carwile (whom Randy Wang has accused of taking cash bribes for his campaign) and Jay Liyanage, the former project manager of Wang's Piazza mall project.

Fire officials say three foreign exchange students escaped from their burning Temple City townhome "just in time" Saturday.

The blaze occurred about 7 a.m. in the 6200 block of Rosemead Boulevard, officials said.

The students, two men and a woman, were all in their early 20s and were believed to be exchange students from China, Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. Al Traxler said.

The fire was sparked by a space heater downstairs and started moving up the stairs of the two-story townhome toward the upstairs bedrooms where the residents slept.

They awoke and smelled fire, and were able to get out before the fire blocked the stairwell, Traxler said.

The students had suit around their noses but were not injured, he said.

The townhouse was a total loss, Traxler said, and the damage was estimated at about $350,000.

The students were relocated with the help of the Red Cross. 

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.

Yesterday I created a mirror site, in case of problems during our move to larger and better servers. It requires posting to both sites and hoping there's some kind of synchronization. I must admit I haven't done a complete job of it.

There are posts on the mirror site that aren't here and vice versa.

Here's a link to the mirror site.

As for the missing posts from this site, there are two. The first is titled "Girl pleads guilty to manslaughter, evading and street racing."

Here's an outtake:

A 17-year-old girl pled guilty Monday to several charges stemming from a collision that killed Angela Chung, 19, of Temple City.
Here's an excerpt from Dan Abendschein's online piece:

PASADENA - A 17-year-old girl pleaded guilty on Monday to four felony counts in a street racing case that killed a 19-year-old student from Temple City.
The girl, whose name was not released because of her age, was convicted in juvenile court. She will serve three months in a county probation department camp, and will have to pay restitution to the victim's family.

The second is a follow to the El Monte Homicide from the weekend. Again an excerpt:

The victim lived in a trailer (not apparently visible on Google Earth). Left no fingerprint of his existence as far as public records and was apparently arrested three times in recent months by El Monte and Baldwin Park police, according to the Los Angeles County's Sheriff's Inmate Locator.

The guy also has a lengthy rap sheet for drug possession, car thievery and spousal abuse. Motive anyone?

Here's our story for (Tuesday's) paper:

EL MONTE — Detectives are continuing to investigate the death of a 33-year-old man found shot inside a trailer late Saturday.

Jack Edward Hicks’ body was discovered shortly before midnight in the 5200 block of Cogswell Road, said Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Denise Fuchs.

The body was found inside a trailer next to a back house where Hicks had been staying, said Detective Gil Carrillo of the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.