WEST HOLLYWOOD -- A passenger on a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus fatally shot the bus driver before surrendering to deputies early Sunday, officials said.
The shooting took place about 9:10 a.m. on an MTA bus as it was eastbound on Santa Monica Boulevard, near Knoll Drive, according to Deputy Lillian Peck of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.
The name of the bus driver was not released.
Deputies responded to a report of a "gunshot victim" and found the male bus driver had been shot in the upper torso, Deputy Jeff Gordon said.
"Immediately after the incident, witnesses saw a male black adult climb from a window on the bus and run toward Santa Monica Boulevard and La Cienega Boulevard," Gordon said.
Sheriff's officials said the The gunman, whose name was not released Sunday afternoon, surrendered to deputies without a struggle.
The bus wounded bus driver was taken to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Gordon said.
"During the investigation two firearms were recovered from the inside of the bus," he said.
AZUSA -- Police arrested two men and two men Saturday on suspicion of trying to carjack a man at a gas station.
Edgar Alba, 25, Anna Rodriguez, 19, and Christine Van Frankfoort, 26, all of Azusa, along with Amado Trejo, 20, of Duarte were booked on suspicion of attempted carjacking, according to Azusa police Sgt. John Madaloni.
The victim was at a gas station in the 300 block of East Foothill Boulevard about 3:30 p.m. when two men and two women approached, the sergeant said. One of them motioned as if he had a weapon in his waistband.
"After they attempted to steal the vehicle, the suspects aborted the crime for unknown reasons and drove off in their Toyota SUV," Madaloni said. The victim followed from a distance in (his) vehicle and called police."
Within minutes, officers spotted the suspects' SUV parked in the 400 block of North Alameda Avenue, police said. Three of them were standing nearby.
As officers detained the three suspects near the SUV, the fourth suspect emerged from a nearby house, but then darted back through the home and into an alley, Madaloni said. He was found and detained about an hour later.
"All four suspects were positively identified by the victim and witnesses, and arrested," Madaloni said.
County booking records indicated Alba, Rodriguez, Van Frankfoort and Trejo were being held in lieu of $100,000 bail each and were due for arraignment Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court.
GLENDORA -- A report of a car over the side of Glendora Mountain Road briefly delayed the start of the seventh stage of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race Saturday, officials said.
The eight-day race, which draws some of the world's top competitive bicyclists, was scheduled to begin its winding 78.3-mile route from Ontario to Mount Baldy -- at noon, organizers said.
The planned route headed south on San Gabriel Canyon Road into Azusa, and then east on Sierra Madre Avenue to Glendora Mountain Road, where the riders were to head back into the forest toward Mount Baldy.
But shortly before 11 a.m., California Highway Patrol officials received a report of a car over the side of Glendora Mountain Road near mile marker 3, on the race route just north of Glendora, CHP Officer Monica Posada said.
CHP and fire officials responded to the scene and confirmed that the car over the side of the road had been involved in a crash the previous night, in which three occupants managed to climb out of the vehicle and back to the roadway, Posada said.
Once they determined no new crash had occurred, officers worked to quickly re-open the roadway to make way for the bicyclists, she said, who started their journey about half an hour later than initially planned because of the incident.
A 60-year-old woman was injured early Friday when an armed man punched her in the face and stole her car.
West Covina police later found the carjacked 4-door Infiniti I30. The suspect was long gone but he left the car keys behind.
The carjacking occurred 2:10 a.m. on Adrienne Drive and Audrey Lane.
Lt. Marty Sevilla said the woman was driving southbound and came to a stop when a man with a handgun approached the car. The stranger opened the passenger side door and got inside.
"He said, 'I need your car,'" Sevilla said.
The woman replied in Spanish to the gunman who punched her.
Sevilla said the suspect reached over and pushed the woman out. The thief then slid into the driver seat and took off southbound toward Shadow Oak Drive.
The woman went to a nearby home and called police.
He said the victim ended up with a cut to the left side of her nose and swelling to the left side of her face. She was treated by paramedics but wasn't taken to a hospital.
Officers tracked the LoJack signal from the Infiniti to the 2200 block of Montana Street. The car was found empty.
The suspect was described as a Latino, clean shaven, 24 to 26, 5 feet 8 inches tall and about 175 pounds.
- Ruby Gonzales
COVINA -- One man was hospitalized with gunshot wounds and another was in jail following a shooting late Friday in an unincorporated county area near Covina, authorities said.
Justin Michael Tino, 26, of Temple City was booked on suspicion of attempted murder and auto theft, according to Los Angeles County sheriff's officials and county booking records.
Deputies received reports of "shots fired" about 10:40 p.m. from the 16600 block of East Masline Street, said Sgt. Kirk Smith of the sheriff's San Dimas Station.
Callers then updated officials that a man had been shot "multiple times" and that the shooter had fled and gotten into a car, Smith said.
Deputies found the car still in the area, at which point Tino jumped out and ran, according to the sergeant. He was arrested following a search of the area.
A handgun was recovered from the car Tino had run from, Smith added.
The shooting victim, a 21-year-old Los Angeles man, showed up a short time later at an area hospital, officials said. His condition was unclear, though the wounds were not believed to be life-threatening.
Smith said investigators were looking into the possibilities that the shooting was related to a nearby house party, and that it was gang-related.
According to county booking records, Tino was being held in lieu of $1.075 million bail and was scheduled for arraignment Tuesday in West Covina Superior Court.
ARCADIA -- Police warned residents to prepare for four weeks of intermittent closures on a portion of West Colorado Boulevard beginning Monday to accommodate construction of the Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension light rail project.
Caltrans crews will be tearing down the railroad bridge spanning Colorado Boulevard west of Santa Anita Avenue as part of the project to extend the Metro Gold line by 11.5 miles, Arcadia police officials said Friday.
As a result, there will be three weeks of daytime, weekday closures of Colorado Boulevard between Santa Anita Avenue and San Antonio Road Road, followed by a week of total closure, day and night, officials said.
"Weather permitting, the weekday only closures are scheduled from Monday, May 21 to Friday, June 8, 2012," police said in a written statement.
"The week of full closures (day and night) is scheduled from Monday, June 11 to Friday, June 15," the statement said.
During the closures, access to homes and businesses will be maintained via detour routes along other streets, police said. Through traffic along Colorado Boulevard will be redirected to the south, to Colorado Place and Santa Clara Street.
Residents will still have access to Newcastle Park, though a portion of the park to the east will be fenced off due to the construction.
The work may become noisy, officials said, but will only be carried out between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.
For more information, contact the project Community Hotline at 626-324-7098, or Arcadia police at 626-574-5150.
MAP courtesy of the Arcadia Police Department
SOUTH EL MONTE - A couple wearing ski masks and hooded sweatshirts robbed two people at gunpoint Friday in the lobby of a hotel.
The robbers entered the lobby of the Ramada Hotel at 1089 Santa Anita Ave. shortly before 8:30 a.m. and brandished a handgun, according to deputies at the sheriff's Temple Station which patrols South El Monte.
Sheriff's Lt. Ignacio Somoano said the suspects took money and personal property from a man and a woman who were customers at the hotel.
He said the robbers, described only as a black man and a black woman, left in a black Honda driven by a Latina.
ARCADIA -- A wounded Hacienda Heights man showed up at an area hospital late Thursday following an apparently gang-related stabbing last week, police said.
The stabbing was believed to have taken place between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. May 11 at Santa Anita Avenue and Duarte Road, though police were notified until later, after the 20-year-old stabbing victim arrived at an area emergency room Thursday evening, according to Arcadia police Lt. Tom Le Veque.
The victim had just left a beverage shop when he was approached by two men who asked him "where he was from" -- a common gang challenge, police said.
An argument took place and the two attackers punched the victim, Le Veque said.
"One of the suspects stepped back, pulled out a folding knife and stabbed the victim in the chest," the lieutenant said. The attackers then fled on foot.
The wounded man's injuries were not believed to be life-threatening, police said.
"The victim does have admitted gang affiliation, and based on the victim's account, the incident may be gang-related," Le Veque said.
The assailants were described as Latino man between 18 and 21. One wore a blue "L.A." hat, a blue shirt, black and gray plaid shorts and white knee-high socks.
Anyone with information was asked to call Arcadia police at 626-574-5156. Tips can also be submitted anonymously by calling 800-222-8477.
ALHAMBRA -- After 31-years as a fugitive, cold case homicide investigators have arrested an Alhambra man on suspicion of murdering a man on Los Angeles on New Year's Day, 1981, authorities announced Friday.
Abraham Tovar, 73, was arrested Wednesday at his Alhambra home by detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department's Newton Homicide Due Diligence Team, LAPD officials said in a written statement.
His brother, Andrew Tovar, was arrested, tried and convicted for the Jan. 1, 1981 slaying of 36-year-old Charles McGee at a vacant lot in the 2300 block of South Central Avenue in Los Angeles, officials said. Andrew Tovar served a state prison sentence and has since died.
Though always suspected in the killing, "Abraham Tovar was never brought to justice and remained a fugitive from the law for 31 years," according to the LAPD statement.
Investigators picked up Abraham Tovar's trail several months ago in Alhambra, police said.
The three-decade-old manhunt collimated with Abraham Tovar's arrest about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at his home in the 1500 block of South Chapel Avenue in Alhambra, LAPD Officer Norma Eisenman said. He was taken into custody without incident.
The Due Diligence Team concluded a several-month investigation that resulted in two search warrants being issued, several days of surveillance and numerous interviews with the suspect's family members and friends in order to locate and apprehend him," the police statement said.
The Tovar brothers had a dispute with an unidentified man at the vacant lot where McGhee's body was later found, officials said.
"Armed with a handgun and a hatchet, the Tovar brothers returned to the lot for revenge," according the police statement. "However, the brothers were unable to find the person they were looking for, so they turned their anger toward Charles McGhee and (a second victim) Wayne Alexis instead."
Abraham shot both men, investigators said. Alexis survived his wounds and testified against Andrew Tovar during his trial.
"This is a perfect example of how, sooner or later, the long arms of the law will catch up with criminals," the statement added.
Information on Abraham Tovar's initial court appearance was not available Friday due to technical problems with county booking records.
A case had not been filed with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office Friday afternoon, officials said.
PHOTOS: (above)1981 murder suspect Abraham Tovar, 73, of Alhambra shortly after his arrest Wednesday, May 16, 2012. (below) Abraham Tovar, photographed in September of 1985.
SANTA ANA -- A jury convicted a gang member Thursday of fatally slashing the throat of an 18-year-old La Habra man outside a Halloween party in 2009, officials said.
Steven Salvador Hernandez, 19, of La Habra faces up to 15 years to life in prison when he returns to court July 27 for sentencing for the Oct. 31, 2009 killing of Joshua Mora-Rodriguez -- a recent high school graduate and son of two Los Angeles police detectives who was preparing to join the Army, said Senior Deputy District Attorney Chris Duff, who prosecuted the case.
The jury found him guilty of second-degree murder and street terrorism, and also found that the crime was gang-related.
Mora-Rodriguez, on the other hand, had no gang ties, Duff said.
"He had just graduated from high school and was getting ready to join the army," he said.
Two other suspects, 17-year-old Rene Antonio Lobos and 22-year-old Francisco Nuno, both of La Habra, are due for trial May 30 in Santa Ana Superior Court, prosecutors said. Hernandez, who was 17 at the time of the killing, and Lobos, who was 15, were both charged as adults.
The fatal attack took place shortly before midnight at a Halloween gathering of about 40 people hosted by a female friend of one of the suspects in the 1000 block of East Francis Avenue, Duff said.
Two of Mora-Rodriguez's friends had been beaten up by several other young men earlier in the evening, prior to the fatal confrontation, the prosecutor said.
As the victim and his two friends left the party, they got into a verbal argument with two of the young men they had been fighting with, Duff said.
A fight broke out, he said.
"The rest of the gang members (six to eight) jumped on," Duff said. "The witnesses basically described it as an ambush."
"Nuno is accused of beating the victim with his fists and Lobos is accused of beating the victim with a baseball bat while Hernandez stabbed the victim's neck with a knife," district attorney's officials said in a written statement.
The knife severed Mora-Rodriguez's carotid artery, and he bled out within minutes, Duff said.
Police found Lobos and Nunez with blood on their clothing and arrested them at the scene, officials said. Hernandez was arrested several weeks later.
The knife used in the stabbing was recovered from a neighbors home, still bloody and wrapped in clothing, Duff said.
"DNA established not only that it was the murder weapon, but that it was (Hernandez's) clothing," he said.
Like Hernandez, Nuno and Lobos have also been charged with second-degree murder and street terrorism, with the additional allegation that the crime was gang-related. If convicted as charged, they also face up to 15 years to life in prison.
MONTEREY PARK -- The city has a new permanent fire chief in 29-year department veteran Jim Birrell, officials announced Thursday.
Birrell, who has been serving as interim chief, began his career with the Monterey Park Fire Department in 1983, city officials said in a written statement.
"I've been very impresseed with his abilities, so it was long overdue," City Manager Paul Talbot said.
He worked his way through the ranks to battalion chief, and began serving as interim fire chief in 2010, officials said.
Raised in Downey, Birrell earned his bachelor's degree in professional studies from Cal State Long Beach, and is working toward a master's degree in Emergency Services Administration.
Chief Birrell has been married for 34 years and has three sons and five grandchildren.
MONROVIA -- Paramedics pronounce a Pasadena man dead inside his car along the side of the 210 Freeway early Thursday after he suffered an unknown medical problem, officials said.
The body of Jack Serrano, 54, was discovered inside his Chevrolet S-10 pickup truck just before 6 a.m. along the right shoulder wall of the eastbound 210 Freeway at Myrtle Avenue, California Highway Patrol Officer Kerri Rivas said.
It was unclear when Serrano actually lost consciousness, she added.
A Freeway Service Patrol worker noticed the truck along the side of the road and noticed a man inside slumped over the steering wheel and unresponsive, Rivas said. The worker was unable to open the truck's doors.
Paramedics responded to the scene and pronounced Serrano dead about 6:22 a.m., officials said.
The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner will perform an examination to determine how Serrano died.
Three people, including two parolees, in a stolen car were caught after a pursuit where they allegedly shot at deputies, authorities said.
No deputies were hit in the shooting and chase, which kicked off about 9:30 p.m. in the area of the 10 Freeway and Garey Avenue in Pomona, when a member of the Sheriff's Narcotics Strike Team spotted a stolen car and followed it, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.
The deputy stayed behind the car until a patrol unit from the sheriff's Industry station arrived, Deputy Peter Gomez said. A pursuit ensued.
"At one point during the pursuit, the suspects shot through the front windshield of the stolen vehicle at the pursuing deputies," sheriff's officials said in a written statement. "Deputies did not return fire."
A 33-year-old West Valinda woman jumped from the still moving car during the chase and was arrested due to outstanding traffic warrants after being treated for minor injuries, sheriff's officials said. Shortly afterward, he said the vehicle crashed. Two men got out and ran into a residential area in the 13600 block of Monterey Avenue.
Gomez said a firearm was also recovered at the scene.
With the help of a sheriff's K-9, the two men who fled from the car were apprehended, officials said.
Parolee Raymond Vasquez, 29, of Los Angeles was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, unlawful discharge of a firearm in an urban area, being an ex-felon in possession of a gun, being an ex-felon in possession of ammunition and carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, sheriff's Sgt. Daniel Jackson said.
The driver of the car, parolee Jimmy Osuna, 21, of Baldwin Park, was booked on suspicion of auto theft and evading police, Jackson said.
According to county booking records, Vasquez and Osuna were being held without bail and were both due for arraignment Friday in West Covina Superior Court.
PASADENA -- The second of two Pasadena men convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting three 14-year-old girls in an abandoned house in 2009 has been sentenced to prison, officials said Thursday.
Brian Lee Hudson, 45, was sentenced to eight years in state prison Wednesday in Pasadena Superior Court, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman Jane Robison.
He had pleaded no contest to three counts of contact with a minor for a sexual offense, and one count of oral copulation with the use of drugs, officials said.
His co-defendant, Stephen Kyle Mack, 42, was sentenced to three years in prison Aug. 17, 2009, after pleading guilty to one count of rape of an unconscious person and one count of providing marijuana to a minor, Robison said.
Hudson and Mack met the three teenage victims at a Pasadena shopping mall on Feb. 23, 2009, police said. The girls were skipping school at the time.
The men took the girls to an abandoned house in the 200 block of Idaho Street, where they gave them alcohol and marijuana and raped them, investigators said.
A neighbor called police when they heard a scream, officials said, but the men had left when officers arrived.
Mack turned himself in three days after the assault, while Hudson was arrested in March of 2010.
CONTRIBUTORS
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| Frank Girardot, Metro Editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers, brings you behind the yellow tape with takes on true crime, cold cases and more. This is also your forum to discuss crime, its impact on your neighborhood and how we cover it. Have any questions or tips? You can leave a comment here or e-mail Frank. |
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Brian Day is the crime reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper group. E-mail Brian. |
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