AZUSA – Police located an assault with a deadly weapon and robbery suspect in Pomona three days after he allegedly committed the crimes at an Azusa motel.

Richard Gonzalez, a Covina man, is accused of the mentioned crimes reportedly committed at the Super 8 Motel January 24. Officers were called to the scene around 9:46 a.m., according to the Azusa Police Department.

During Gonzalez’s arrest, three other suspects were taken into custody, although police did not elaborate on their potential involvement.

Gonzalez was held in lieu of $50,000 ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina courthouse Monday, January 31.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - A woman behind the wheel of a stolen vehicle was arrested Monday after allegedly barricading herself inside the automobile, Azusa Police said.

Officers discovered the Range Rover was stolen at Irwindale and Foothill Boulevard around 4 p.m. January 17. The driver eventually stopped in a shopping center in the 200 block of West Foothill Boulevard, but refused to surrender, according to Cpl. Beaver of the Azusa Police Department.

The driver of the vehicle, reported stolen in Rancho Cucamonga, kept officers at bay for roughly 40 minutes and allegedly told officers to shoot her. She occasionally reached around through the Range Rover, Beaver told SGV CityWatch.

Eventually, Vanessa Monique Yslava, a Rancho Cucamonga resident, was removed from the vehicle by force.

The Range Rover was reportedly stolen after a home burglary in Rancho Cucamonga, Beaver told SGV CityWatch.

Yslava, 32, was transferred to the custody of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. She was booked on suspicion of vehicle theft and residential burglary. She is being held in lieu of $125,000 bail at the West Valley Detention Center ahead of a scheduled appearance in Rancho Cucamonga Superior Court January 19.

Assisting with traffic control were the Irwindale and Glendora Police departments.

AZUSA - Officers responding to a gunfire call in a neighborhood Saturday discovered a man described in his mid-50s dead in an alleyway.

The shooting was reported just after 5:30 p.m. in the 600 block of Glennfinnan Avenue, January 8. The publicly unidentified man suffered from a gunshot wound to the upper torso, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Investigators state there was no suspect description available.

Anyone with information on this shooting is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoppers.org.

LOS ANGELES - An Azusa man was sentenced to more than 11 years in state prison Monday after pleading no contest to several charges stemming from a June 6 shooting with police.
 
Edward Gamino, 35, pleaded no contest to one count of assault with a semi-automatic weapon on a peace officer and two counts of shooting at an inhabited dwelling or vehicle, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Ricardo Santiago.
 
Gamino was sentenced to 11 years and four months in prison.
 
The bizarre incident unfolded June 6, 2021 in the 800 block of East Foothill Boulevard near Azusa Pacific University and Citrus College around 11 a.m. A suspect was seen with a firearm. Azusa Police officers initially could not find a suspect, according to Azusa Police Captain Robert Landeros in a previous interview.
 
Around Noon, a suspect was seen reportedly firing a handgun into the air and fired at an Azusa Pacific University employee in a truck. No one was hit by gunfire.
 
During an area search, officers located a suspect, later identified as Gamino. A foot chase ensued inside the Foothill Vista Mobile Home Park, 840 E. Foothill Blvd. Officers exchanged gunfire with Gamino, who took refuge in an occupied mobile home, Landeros said. 
 
The 88-year-old mother of Audrey Schmedes was able to escape with the help of neighbors.
 
“I got a message from her neighbor, a voicemail saying that ‘you mom is with me. Her unit was broken into and there’s somebody in there now,” according to Audrey Schmedes in a previous interview.
 
Schmedes called her mother’s home number and a man who was likely Gamino answered the phone.
 
“After he said hello a couple of times I said ‘hello’ back and I said ‘can I like to speak to the lady who lives there’ and he said ‘she’s outside,’” Schmedes said.
 
Gamino was soon taken into custody. He was found wearing a makeshift gunbelt he used to holster the weapon. A handgun was recovered, Landeros said.