Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A 75-year-old Monrovia man was arrested Friday after he allegedly followed a Covina officer into a secured area of the station and brandished a knife.

Luis Hurtado allegedly went to the station, 444 N. Citrus Ave., and followed the officer who was driving in around 6:15 p.m., according to the Covina Police Department.

“The subject confronted the initial officer in the secured area, brandished a knife in a threatening manner and made statements consistent with his desire for police to take his life,” according to the Covina Police Department in a written statement.

Backup officers arrived and subdued Hurtado with less lethal rounds. No officers were injured.

Hurtado was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for criminal filing consideration, the Covina Police Department said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A fight likely fueled by alcohol left two men with knife wounds and two other men, including the alleged knife attacker, in jail Friday.

Officers responded to Rude Dog Bar & Grill, 114 N. Citrus Ave., around 11:13 p.m. May 27 on a reported stabbing. Officers found one man who was stabbed in his lower back and a leg. Another man suffered lacerations to his hands, according to Lt. Tony Zavala of the Covina Police Department.

The stabbing suspect, 27-year-old Matthew Rene Reyes, was found unconscious in the street on Citrus Avenue outside the bar after having been subdued and beaten by other revelers, including a friend of one of the stabbing victims, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

One of the stabbing victims “soccer kicked” the suspect while the suspect was on the ground, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

Officers believed a war of words, or a physical altercation led to the knife attack. Both men who suffered the knife wounds were uncooperative with officers, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

“It appeared the suspect went back to his vehicle and armed himself with a knife. It was described as a hunting knife,” Zavala told SGV CityWatch. “He returned and stabbed the victims while they were outside the bar.”

A friend of the stabbing victim was applying pressure to his confidant’s wounds and became confrontational with officers. An officer was eventually punched in the face, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

The confrontational friend was subdued with a stun gun.

Reyes, a Baldwin Park man, was booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. He is being held in lieu of $30,000 bail ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina courthouse Wednesday, June 1.

The friend who allegedly assaulted the officer is 54-year-old Alfredo Garcia, from Pomona. He was booked on suspicion of resisting/delaying an officer. Court date information for Garcia was not readily available.

Zavala believes intoxication played a role in the melee.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A stabbing and potential shooting erupted at Forest Lawn in Covina Saturday afternoon, sending three men to a nearby hospital where they are listed in stable condition.

A group of people began fighting at the cemetery, 21300 Via Verde Street, May 21 for still unknown reasons. Two people wee stabbed and a third may have been shot, according to Sgt. Tinoco of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Walnut/Diamond Bar Station.

Deputies responded to the scene at 5:49 p.m.

“Nobody is cooperating with us, nobody is speaking to us,” Tinoco told SGV CityWatch.

During the investigation, hospital staff called authorities about three victims who showed up to be treated, Tinoco told SGV CityWatch.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A driver described as a felon was arrested Wednesday afternoon after he fled from a traffic stop, took refuge in a home and escaped to a roof before being taken into custody, the Covina Police Department said.

Police stopped the driver of a green Geo Prism for expired registration and Azusa Avenue and Covina Boulevard around 3:15 p.m. May 18. As officers approached the stopped vehicle, the driver sped away. The chase ended at the dead end of the 1200 block of West Masline Street where the suspect decided to flee on foot, according to Lt. Robison of the Covina Police Department.

A P80 Glock ghost gun was recovered from the vehicle, Robison told SGV CityWatch.

A search of the neighborhood did not turn off the suspect.

As a resident was returning to her home, the suspect fled the residence and took refuge on the roof, Robison told SGV CityWatch.

“He ran and jumped on the roof and then finally got down,” Robison told SGV CityWatch.

James Richard Gutierrez, 27, was booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, carrying a concealed weapon in a vehicle, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition and burglary, Robison told SGV CityWatch.

Gutierrez is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina courthouse May 20.