Whittier: April 2008 Archives

FBI calls this guy the "Late Bloomer" bandit. It appears he's struck again in Pico Rivera Monday afternoon.

A man described as a male Hispanic in his 60s about 5-feet-4 tall and weighing 140 pounds struck the Bank of the West at 9001 Whittier Boulevard in Pico Rivera. He escaped with an unknown amount of cash.

A previous story by Brian Day on the "Late Bloomer" read like this:

The FBI is seeking a serial robber suspected of three Whittier area bank robberies since late March, authorities said.

Dubbed the "Late Bloomer Bandit" because of his age, officials are worried because the robber seems to be growing bolder with each crime.

The bandit is believed to have struck the Whittier Union Bank branch at 8510 Painter Ave. on March 28, a Pico Rivera Banco Popular at 8500 Washington Blvd. on March 29, and a Santa Fe Springs Banco Popular at 13310 Telegraph Road on April 16, Eimiller said.

The bandit presents a note and also verbally demands money, she said. He threatens to have a gun and says he's "not afraid to use it," Eimiller said, however a weapon has not been seen.

The Late Bloomer Bandit is described as a white or Latino man in his late 50s, standing about 5 feet 7 inches tall, and weighing 180 to 190 pounds, with gray hair and a mustache, Eimiller said. He wears prescription glasses with black frames and carries a newspaper or magazine where he stows the stolen cash, she said.

In the latest incident the Late Bloomer was described wearing a cap with the letter "G" a long-sleeved white shirt and blue jeans. 

An archive of old LAPD photographs recently found its way online. The black and whites add to a rich photographic history of our region that is slowly finding its way on to the Internet.

For example, last year UCLA put up nearly 3 million old newspaper photos. The Los Angeles Public Library has a pretty extensive collection of old newspaper shots as well as private photos. It's been online since at least 2004 and continues to grow.

What's interesting about browsing these collections is the first-hand look at the rich history they offer.

For example, in the Los Angeles Public Library archive there is a shot from about the 1920s labeled "The Tamale." I found it by searching for Whittier. Here's a description:

"Exterior view of The Tamale, a restaurant specializing in hispanic (sic) foods. Building was built in the shape of a tamale. Located at 6421 Whittier Boulevard."

In the picture, it appears as if there are no other buildings in the neighborhood. The Tamale stands alone against a background of dirt lots and shade trees.

Here's where the fun part comes in. When you search Google for the address, you can actually see a "Street View" of the location.

And, guess what? The Tamale, which was a lunch counter way back when, is still there.

It's called Charley's. It's now a beauty salon.

In the UCLA archive there's a photo taken in 1921 of a funeral procession outside the San Gabriel Mission. The photo  strikes me for several reasons. First of all the Mission is completely unrestored, so it's probably the original construction we see.

Here's the caption: "Funeral cortege of Santo Juncio, leaving San Gabriel Mission yesterday. Chief Youngturtle of the Chickasaw tribe (in the headdress) is leading the native pallbearers carrying the coffin of the 106-year-old man."

The photo amazes me. Catholic priests in full regalia lead a procession of sandal wearing Native Americans outside the unrestored mission.

Just think, in 1921 Santo Juncio, at 106, would have been born in 1815; before California was a state; before the Civil War; before autos or planes.

As if highlighting the dichotomy of that amazing life, a group of Model-A Fords are parked right up alongside a dirt path that separates the primitive adobe mission from a parking lot.

Hoping for some of the same Google magic I had with the Tamale, I was a little disappointed by the "Street View" of the mission.

The 1921 newspaper photo shows several eucalyptus trees surrounding the church. I couldn't find them looking through Google. It seems as if they've all been replaced with palm trees.

Obviously, the extensive restoration of the 1980s and 1990s probably obliterated much of the historical sense of the place where Los Angeles was born.

I could go on and on about some of the interesting photographs I've found and the stories they tell, but I don't have the time - or the space. I will post links to the galleries and some of the photos from today's column on the Crime Scene blog.

Until then if you want to see a sample of the LAPD photos, which cover a period from the mid-1920s until the 1960s, they can be found at http://www.fototeka.com