Recently in Valinda Category

Here's some stories we've been following over the weekend:

1. BALDWIN PARK -- City Councilman Anthony Bejarano was arrested late Friday on suspicion of being intoxicated in public.

2. VALINDA -- A Duarte man was jailed on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence Saturday following a crash that killed a 61-year-old Valinda man.

3. PASADENA -- A 16-year-old girl was shot in the leg Saturday while congregating with a group of other young women in front of an apartment building.

4 .BALDWIN PARK -- A 17-year-old boy showed up at a local hospital Sunday after he was stabbed but refused to tell police the details.

5. IRWINDALE -- A truck driver was robbed and shot Saturday as he dropped his truck off at a business at the end of his work day.

6. PASADENA -- A woman was arrested Sunday after allegedly attacking her boyfriend with a "The Club" steering wheel lock and vandalizing his car after discovering him at a motel with another woman.

This is a press release from Supervisor Gloria Molina's office. It came just two days after an emotional hearing before the Supes about the deaths of Good Samaritans who try to stop graffiti vandals throughout the county:

Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina will join Lieutenant Gil Carrillo of the Sheriff's Department Homicide Division to publicize a $25,000 reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Luis Sandoval, a 71-year-old East Los Angeles resident who was shot in the abdomen after witnessing two males spray-painting graffiti on the side of a business located at the corner of East Olympic Boulevard and South Hicks Avenue. 

Mr. Sandoval had been riding his bicycle home and lived just four houses away from the scene of the crime.  Though the shooting took place on February 25, 2007, Mr. Sandoval died approximately four months later on June 13, 2007.  Authorities have since confirmed that his death was due directly to the injuries he sustained as a result of the shooting and are now asking for the public's help to solve this homicide--the third graffiti-related killing to occur in the First District.  (Robert Whitehead of Valinda was shot and killed in March 2006 while trying to stop graffiti taggers from spray-painting his neighbor's garage; Maria Hicks of Pico Rivera was shot and killed in August 2007 while trying to stop graffiti taggers from spray-painting a wall in her neighborhood.) 

Surviving relatives of Luis Sandoval will be available at tomorrow's press conference for interviews and pictures of the crime scene will be on display.
 
"Luis Sandoval was a hard-working, retired steel worker with a large family whose only transgression was being at the wrong place at the wrong time," Molina said.  "The anguish his death has caused his family is indescribable--and it is particularly painful to the community since it is the third graffiti-related homicide to take place in the First Supervisorial District.  It is my sincere hope that this $25,000 reward compels someone to bring information forward that will help us catch the people responsible for Luis Sandoval's murder."

Brian Day reports on another shooting in the Valinda-La Puente corridor. Killed Monday morning was a 43-year-old man standing in a driveway in the 700 block of Foxworth Avenue.

From Brian's story:

LA PUENTE - Authorities had few leads Monday in the shooting death of a man in a residential neighborhood, authorities said.

Alex Trejo, 43, of Valinda was pronounced dead at the hospital after being shot numerous times, sheriff's and coroner's officials said.

Deputies responded to 9-1-1 calls reporting a gunshot victim just after 5 a.m. and found a 43-year-old man with multiple gunshot wounds in front of a house in the 700 block of Foxworth Avenue in an unincorporated county area near La Puente, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Sgt. Gerard Velona.

While several witnesses reported hearing gunshots shortly before the body was found, no witnesses reported seeing the shooting, said Detective Steven Blagg of the sheriff's Homicide Bureau.

The man was found lying in the driveway of a single-story home with numerous gunshot wounds from a handgun, Blagg said.

 

Due to some technical issues, Thursday's column was much shorter in print and online than I had originally written it. (In other words I wrote long and space was short). You probably notice in reading it that it's pretty much a follow up to Sam Quinones excellent piece in yesterday's LAT.

I've heard that Quinones attended every day of trial and was able to score some interviews that I couldn't get. Most notably no one from the Azusa PD returned calls Wednesday to discuss Ralph Flores, Azusa 13 or the impact and aftermath of the spree of hate crimes that plagued Azusa between 1998 and 2004.

Complete column after the jump...

Brian Day got the photo in East Valinda near where two people were shot Easter Sunday. Just south of the candles, blood stains are still clearly visible.

Here's Brian's description of the photo:

Fred Ortega's piece on the history and influence of La Eme is now online. Here's an excerpt from the bottom of the story:  The SGVN's online look at gangs is here.

The (Lola) Llantada case is only the latest example of the influence that the Eme wields in the San Gabriel Valley.

In April 2006, four men were arrested in Pomona in connection with an attempted Mexican Mafia contract killing. Their trial is scheduled for this year.

Last November, reputed Emero Frank "Frankie B" Buelna, 61, was shot to death in a Pomona sports bar. Buelna was reputed to have broad power within the Mexican Mafia, and officials are still investigating the motive behind his killing. The perpetrators are still at large.

And in December, reputed Eme member Eulalio "Lalo" Martinez, 46, was charged with ordering the killing of former gang member Donald "Pato" Schubert in Rosemead in 1998. In that case, prosecutors allege that Martinez runs the Lomas Rosemead street gang from Pelican Bay State Prison, where he has been incarcerated for the past 15 years.

La Eme's deep roots in the San Gabriel Valley became clearly evident to Steinwand, the sheriff's homicide investigator, when he moved to the Industry Station from the South Central Los Angeles area early in his career.

"Over there in South Central when there were orders from the Eme to stop drive-bys, guys would go out and do five of them in one night just to spite them," said Steinwand, who has been a detective for 18 years. "But they have a lot more control on this side of the 710 (Freeway).

"When I came to work at the Industry Station, it was amazing," he added. "When the Eme said something, (the gangs) listened."

 

Some of this information surfaced during the investigation of Robert Whitehead's killing. Whitehead was killed after confronting taggers near his parents home. Among those suspected in the case was Paul "Malo" Salazar, a graduate of Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, who was also a suspected member of Puente Trece.

Salazar was killed at his home during a get-together in July.

Interesting side note, Whitehead's brother is a Monrovia police officer. 

EAST VALINDA — Two men were apparently kidnapped from a house in the 17400 block of Bulay Avenue after a home invasion robbery late Thursday, officials said.

The kidnapping occurred just before 4 p.m. authorities said. Both men were later free. Both were assaulted.

Police are unclear about the extent of injuries. Victims put in two different cars. The vcictim who returned came back in a car that had been reported stolen. He is uncooperative with police.

Officers are seeking a car with Oregon plates.

Police were seeking four male suspects described as “gang types” and three vehicles, one apparently belongs to the reported victims. 

"The Victim is being very evasive at this point," Lt. Al Garcia, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Police crusiers and fire engines raced to the neighborood near Temple and Azusa avenues late Thursday.
http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime

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Victim in last week's shooting has been identified as Osorio Reyes, 26, of La Puente. Police had to notify family in Mexico before releasing his identity.

Jennifer McLain is reporting that one of the wounded in the La Puente shooting has died. We'll keep updating this through the afternoon.

After a while this gets a little frustrating.... City officials in La Puente are a little ticked that we indicated the shooting of a woman somewhere near the 605 and Valley Boulevard occurred in La Puente.
Sheriff's officials have corrected our geography once again. They say this happened in Bassett, an unincorporated portion of Eastern Los Angeles County.
Just last week we received this email on the very same topic.

I got this email this afternoon pointing out a geographical fine point that is sometimes lost on me even though I know these neighborhoods.
Hopefully this clarifies any confusion in some of our reporting on the Paul Salazar Robert Whitehead story.
By the way, thanks for all the comments on the blog. I can't respond to all of them, but I do read all.
Here's the (somewhat edited) email

Dear Mr. Girardot: My parents purchased their home near where the crime against Mr. Whitehead occurred. Channel 9/Los Angeles also interviewed Mr. Whitehead's neighbor, who has lived on Moccasin for over 50 years. The reason I bring this up, every time a news organization reportson this crime, you all list it as occuring in West Valinda. The area this crime was committed is called Bassett, an unincorporated area of La Puente. All mail comes to 91746 at those homes, stamped as a LaPuente address. You also listed Mr. Salazar's home address near Bishop Amat HighSchool. I am a 1970 graduate of Bishop Amat myself. Mr. Salazar's home may be on the border of Valinda/West Covina as your article stated, however his address as well as the High School is La Puente. In the future it would be great if you could acknowledge the cities where this story has taken place. I am sure a lot of people from Bassett would like to extend their condolences to the Whitehead family, but did not realize that it was a family in Bassett, California. By the way Bassett also uses the zip code 91746 as does La Puente for that neighborhood. Just thought you might need this correct information.

The death of Paul Salazar in Valinda (or is that West Covina?) the other night is getting a close look from Sheriff's homicide detectives. That said, they are keeping a tight lid on information about the shooting, potential suspects and the circumstances.
Salazar was one of two men killed in gang attacks over the weekend. Six others were wounded, according to officials. No arrests have been made in any of the cases.