Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - Two hours of negotiations led to the surrender of a man accused of domestic violence Thursday.

Isaiah Castro, 22, held officers at bay in an apartment complex in the 800 block of South Cerritos Avenue October 3. Officers originally responded to the domestic violence call at 7:51 a.m., according to the Azusa Police Department.

Azusa officers activated the East San Gabriel Valley SWAT Team, comprised of Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park police officers.

Castro was booked on suspicion of resisting or delaying an officer with force, battery, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon and attempting to damage a communication device to prevent help, according to the Azusa Police Department.

Castro is being held without bail at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled appearance in West Covina Superior Court October 7.

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The arrest record in this article is being redistributed by SGV CityWatch and is protected by constitutional, publishing and other legal rights. Arrest information is public record and was distributed by government sources. The person named in this article has only been arrested on suspicion of the crime(s) listed and is presumed innocent.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - A parolee accused of attacking his father and keeping police at bay for roughly five hours is facing additional charges stemming from the standoff inside his parents home April 4.

Oscar Galaviz, 32, was finally taken into custody after being smoked out by SWAT team members and was booked on suspicion of elder abuse, residential burglary, violating his court order and resisting arrest.

Galaviz is accused of attacking his father with a walking cane, causing the father some minor injuries. His parents have an active restraining order against him and he should not have been at the house, according to the Azusa Police Department.

First responders were called to the house in the 800 block of West Sixth Street at 11:23 a.m. Tuesday. Galaviz barricaded himself inside a bedroom and armed himself with a baseball bat, according to the Azusa Police Department.

“Officers attempted contact with Galaviz, however he refused to comply and armed himself with a baseball bat asking Officers to shoot him. Galaviz also attempted to burrow through the drywall of the adjoining neighbors residence as he remained hold up,” according to the Azusa Police Department in a written statement.

The Azusa Police Department employed the assistance of the Irwindale Police SWAT team, a West Covina Police Department K9 and a mental health evaluation team in an effort to get Galaviz to surrender.

Telephone calls and announcements over loud speakers were made to try and get Galaviz to surrender.

Azusa police detectives eventually wrote a search warrant to enter the home and take Galaviz into custody.

Current booking information from Los Angeles County was not readily available.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - Using a minor use of force, SWAT officers took a barricaded man into custody just after 5:30 p.m. after a roughly five-hour standoff.

The suspect is accused of assaulting his father in the 800 block of West Sixth Street near Virginia Avenue. First responders were called to the scene around 11:23 a.m., according to Lt. Jake Bushey of the Azusa Police Department.

“We had probable cause to believe he attacked the father with some kind of object. The suspect then barricaded himself in a rear house,” Bushey told SGV CityWatch.

The father ended up receiving only minor injuries.

Members of the Azusa police swat team use a flash bang grenade and, through a loudspeaker, periodically ordered the suspect to surrender.

Tear gas was deployed inside the home. The suspect exited and was detained by officers, Bushey told SGV CityWatch.

He was treated by firefighters and taken away by an ambulance. No officers were injured, and apparently the suspect was uninjured as well during the use of force, Bushey told SGV CityWatch.

The suspect is expected to be booked on suspicion of elder abuse, Bushey told SGV CityWatch.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - Police found no evidence of gunfire, but their search did yield a man who was sought since December on a warrant for a number of alleged crimes.

Officers initially descended upon the Sycamore Park Apartments, 1151 W. Arrow Hwy., near Vincent Avenue before 5 p.m. on a report of potential gunfire coming from one of the apartment units April 2. Officers did not locate evidence of gunfire, but did find the suspect they have been seeking for months.

Roy M. Garcia, 66, was taken into custody after initially refusing to surrender to officers. After being told gunfire was coming from within the complex, Azusa officers called mutual aid assistance from Glendora Police and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

A Sheriff’s helicopter circled overhead, a deputy’s voice boomed from a loudspeaker, ordering Garcia to surrender.

Garcia was sought on suspicion of criminal threats, brandishing a weapon or firearm, committing a hate crime and resisting, delaying, or obstructing an officer, crimes allegedly committed December 27, 2022.

Garcia is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail ahead of a scheduled appearance in the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina Courthouse April 4.

AZUSA – A man is expected in court Wednesday after he was arrested on suspicion of battering elderly family members, according to the Azusa Police Department.

John Guce Amoranto, 43, is suspected of bettering his elderly family members in the 200 block of South Virginia Avenue July 18. Officers responded to the scene at 2:48 p.m. He barricaded himself inside the home and reportedly refused to comply with commands to surrender, according to the Azusa Police Department.

“After a short time, Officers were able to take suspect John Amoranto into custody,” according to the Azusa Police Department in a written statement.

Amoranto was booked on suspicion of elder abuse and obstructing officers.

Amoranto is being held in lieu of $115,000 bail at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles ahead of his scheduled court appearance in the West Covina courthouse.

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.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - An Azusa man who allegedly beat several family members and held them against their will was finally taken into custody after mental health professionals were able to convince the suspect to exit his home, police said.

Tyler Bachert, 25, allegedly barricaded himself in a home in the 500 block of East 10th Street, April 5. He did so after allegedly beating several family members and refusing to let them leave. Some family members were able to escape and call authorities, according to the Azusa Police Department.

Police responded to the scene around 12:34 p.m.

“Azusa Police officers along with mental health professionals from the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health were able to de-escalate the situation and successfully convince Bachert to exit the residence. Bachert attempted to flee but was ultimately taken into custody a short distance away,” according to the Azusa Police Department in a written statement.

Bachert was booked on suspicion of battery and false imprisonment. He is being held in the Twin Towers Correctional Facility ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina Courthouse Wednesday, April 7, According to Los Angeles County booking records.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

​AZUSA - More than four hours after taking refuge in a vehicle, a 31-year-old man was safely taken into custody Friday night.

The man, identified by acquaintances as Nathan, allegedly brandished a knife at deputies who tried to contact him on East Arrow Highway east of Azusa Avenue just after 4 p.m. The man fled and took refuge inside the van at the Arrow Inn.

Deputies called in their Mental Evaluation Team and Special Enforcement Bureau to convince the man to surrender peacefully.

Darlene, mother of the barricaded man, waited on pins and needles the entire time and even pleaded over a loud speaker for her son to surrender. Deputies set up a phone in hopes the man would speak to them, but he refused.

Deputies set off a tremendous flash bang grenade and peppered the driver side window with pepper ball projectiles to coerce him to comply, which he did around 8:35 p.m.

The man was examined by paramedics on scene before being taken away for booking.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
​Citywatch Editor

AZUSA - Sheriff’s deputies are attempting to get a barricade man armed with a knife to surrender Friday evening.

The man brandished a knife at deputies who attempted to make contact with him in the 400 block of East Arrow Highway just After 4 p.m. May 3. The man jumped into a van at the motel, according to Sgt. Roth of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

The man is barricaded in a room at the Arrow Inn, 469 E. Arrow Hwy.

The barricaded man’s mother is on scene and spoke to her son, 31, to peacefully surrender.

Deputies are being assisted by the Sheriff’s Mental Evaluation Team. The California Highway Patrol is also assisting, Roth said.