Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA – Bomb squad technicians safely secured and rendered safe an explosive device found on a patient who was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center Monday night for treatment.
Security at the hospital, 1798 N. Garey Ave., called the Pomona Police Department. A PVC pipe with endcaps and a fuse was located and an explosives detection K9 at the hospital alerted to the device, according to the Pomona Police Department. The patient arrived by ambulance form West Covina. “Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center was not evacuated but as a precaution the main entrance to the emergency room was shut down and ambulances were rerouted to other local hospitals for approximately one hour,” according to the Pomona Police Department in a written statement. Orange Grove Avenue was also shut down between Artesia Street and Tate Avenue. Pomona investigators do not believe the hospital was the target and that the patient was merely in possession of the device. Investigators are working with an “allied agency” to determine the patient’s identity and where they reside. Anyone who can help identify the patient is urged to call the Pomona Police Department at 909-620-2085. Provide information anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoppers.org. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA – Sheriff’s homicide investigators revealed that a gunman reportedly opened fire unprovoked on a Pomona officer who attempted to speak with him and several others Thursday night.
The shooting occurred in the 300 block of Orchid Lane around 7:15 p.m. February 3. The officer was struck by gunfire in one leg and was able to return fire, striking the suspect twice, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau. The wounded gunman and two others that were congregating with him fled. A containment search helped find a suspect with two gunshot wounds to the upper torso. Both the officer and suspect were hospitalized. The suspect, only described as a Hispanic man in his 30s, was also treated. The fate of the two others seen with the suspect is not publicly known. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail removed a collection dangerous, explosive materials and military-grade items from the home of a domestic violence suspect August 23.
Jan Kumar Agarwala, a 54-year-old Pomona man, was investigated after officers were called to a domestic violence report in the 1600 block of Lawrence Place Sunday around 6:37 p.m. Agarwala is accused of pushing the mother of his children and throwing a drink at her, Pomona Police said. Since Agarwala was accused of domestic violence, police inquired of any weapons in the home. The law allows for the temporary removal of firearms in such cases, Pomona Police said. Police were informed of multiple weapons, including rifles, shotguns and handguns in the home. One weapon was discovered stolen, Pomona Police said. The weapons were seized. “Additionally, officers located 7 military smoke grenades, 2 suspected smoke grenades, 2 illumination flares, 2 pounds of a white powder substance, a roll of hobby fuse, an electric detonator, 2 containers of Hexamine tablets, and one pound of smokeless powder,” Pomona Police said in a written statement. Agarwala was booked at the Pomona jail. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed charges of possession of explosive, possession of ingredients to make a destructive device, receiving stolen property, criminal storage of a firearm and domestic battery. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A one-to-two-acre brush fire is burning in the Pomona hills. The fire is preliminarily sized at 100 feet by 100 feet, creeping slowly uphill near the 100 block of Diamond Ranch Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. A full brush fire response has been ordered, including helicopters and hand crews. The fire has the potential to spread to as many as three acres, firefighters said.
The fire is burning near Diamond Ranch High School. There is no reported threat to structures at this time. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - Two 20-year-old men accused of murdering a Sylmar teen and dumping her body in the Azusa canyons are scheduled to be arraigned Friday. Frediz Lopez and Christian Granados, both from Los Angeles, were arrested early in December 2018 and booked on suspicion of murdering Johanna Lissette Mejia Gayton, 17. Her bloody body was found in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Both men are facing arraignment in Pomona Superior Court. A 16-year-old girl from Compton was additionally charged with murder. A resident called 9-1-1 around 12:15 p.m. Saturday November 24, 2018 after discovering Gayton’s body. Deputies from the San Dimas Station arrived to East Fork Road at mile marker 1.25 and declared Gayton dead at the scene, according to Deputy Armando Viera Jr. of the Los Angeles a County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Gayton’s body was in a culvert adjacent to a turnout and apparently suffered blunt force trauma, Viera said. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor SAN DIMAS - A stolen vehicle suspect remains at large after he ditched his stolen ride and fled Pomona Police on foot. The Jeep Cherokee was reported stolen February 12 out of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. Pomona Police found it and attempted to stop the driver in the 1800 block of West Orange Grove Avenue, according to Lt. Bert Sanchez of the Pomona Police Department. The pursuit began around 9:30 p.m. February 16.
The pursuit found its way to the northbound 57 freeway where the driver exited onto Covina Boulevard in San Dimas. Pomona officers lost sight of the vehicle near the 210 freeway and Lone Hill Avenue. According to San Dimas Sheriff’s radio traffic, Pomona officers were able to track the suspect by triangulating a cell phone signal. Whose cell phone it was is not known. The Jeep Cherokee was found abandoned in the parking lot of the Bargain Store, 1499 W. Arrow Hwy. San Dimas deputies and the Glendora Police Department searched neighborhoods north of the shopping center, but the suspect was not located. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch POMONA - Arson/Explosives technicians responded to an industrial complex south of Cal Poly Pomona Wednesday afternoon after two suspicious items were found.
Technicians responded to the 100 block of University Parkway around 5:45 p.m. Technicians determined none of the items contained any explosives and there were no suspicious notes attached to them, according to Deputy Trina Schrader of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau. No one from the industrial complex was evacuated since it already the end of the work day, Schrader said. Arson/Explosives technicians cleared the scene about 90 minutes later. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor POMONA - A metal chair. A rock. A broken glass pipe. All weapons allegedly used by the four suspects accused of brutally beating to death a 20-year-old Glendora man, prosecutors said.
Hercules Balaskas, an 18-year-old man from Glendora, Jacob Hunter Elmendorf, a 19-year-old man from La Verne, Francisco Amigon, a 19-year-old man from La Verne and outstanding suspect 21-year-old Matthew Capiendo Luzon were charged today with three counts of first degree murder with special circumstances, first-degree residential robbery and kidnapping, according to Sarah Ardalani of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The suspects also face three special circumstances of lying in wait and murder during the kidnapping and robbery of Julian Hamori-Andrade, whose body was found dumped 30 feet over the side of Highway 39 Wednesday, May 30. Prosecutors accuse Balaskas of beating Hamori-Andrade with the metal chair. Luzon, who is still on the run, is accused of using a rock and broken glass pipe to further beat the victim once he was taken to the mountainside, Ardalani said. Balaskas, Amigon and Elmendorf were to be arraigned Thursday, but their court appearance was continued to June 6 in Pomona Superior Court, Ardalani said. If convicted as charged, all four suspects face the death penalty or life in state prison without parole. The decision to seek the death penalty will be made at a later court appearance. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor POMONA - Traffic was opened up about 45 minutes ago near Cal Poly Pomona after bomb technicians inspected a suspicious item and deemed it safe.
Police were called to the Foothill Transit bus at the corner of South Campus Drive and Temple Avenue a little after 6:30 p.m. to inspect the item. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail was called to inspect the item, according to Lt. Gutierrez of the Pomona Police Department. Pomona Police conducted traffic control during the investigation, which hampered road conditions in the immediate area and caused severe delays for Foothill Transit bus lines 190, 194, 195, 289, 480, and 486. “It wasn’t a dangerous device. I’m not sure what it was, but it wasn’t electrical in nature,” Gutierrez said. |
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