Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA – Sheriff’s deputies helped to end a lengthy barricade June 2 after an armed man refused to give himself up, police said.

Patrick Miller, 60, was wanted on a $100,000 warrant related to a vehicular manslaughter case out of Covina. The fatal DUI crash occurred January 27 at Grand Avenue and Covina Boulevard. Miller spoke with officers and said he refused to surrender, according to the Covina Police Department.

Officers attempted to serve the arrest warrant at 3:19 p.m. June 1 at Miller’s home in the 100 block of North Forestdale Avenue.

Homes near Miller’s residence were evacuated as a precaution, since Miller is known to possess firearms and has been the subject of multiple calls for police presence, Covina Police said.

Officers used “less lethal devices” and “chemical munitions” to get Miller to surrender, but he refused to relent, Covina Police said.

Crisis negotiators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department were called to de-escalate the situation.

Miller could be seen in his garage, armed with a knife, handgun and occasionally smoked from a glass pipe. He also ignited fireworks, Covina Police said.

Multiple gunshots could be heard coming from within Miller’s home and police believe Miller directed those gunshots at officers, Covina Police said.

The Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau eventually forced Miller to surrender 16 hours later after deploying additional “chemical munitions,” Covina Police said.

Miller was hospitalized after suffering what officers described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A suspect reportedly sought for manslaughter was taken into custody this morning after barricading himself in a residence.

Deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau announced the suspect’s arrest just before 8:30 a.m.

It is not yet clear when the barricade began in the area of the 200 block of North Forestdale Avenue, but community members alerted SGV CityWatch about the barricade just before 6:30 p.m.

Covina Police have yet to release details regarding the barricade.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

UPDATE, 11 p.m.: The Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureay and crisis negotiators were able to get the suspect to surrender sometime before 8 p.m., According to Deputy Eric Ortiz of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Deputies originally responded to a residence and 18000 block of Gaillard Street in unincorporated Azusa to investigate a family disturbance. The suspect fled and led deputies on a pursuit until they were able to disable his truck.

COVINA - A pursuit suspect continues to remain inside of a truck he used to evade San Dimas deputies after they pursued him Saturday afternoon.

The suspect remains inside of his vehicle on North Hollenbeck Avenue south of East Cypress Street in Covina May 8. San Dimas deputies originally responded to a residence in the unincorporated area of Azusa at 3:39 p.m. to investigate a family disturbance, according to Deputy Shawn Dubusky Of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

It was not yet clear to Dubusky, but the suspect fled from deputies and a pursuit ensued until a spike strip was used to disable the suspect’s tires.

The Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau was summoned to the barricade to get the suspect to surrender. the barricade to get the suspect to surrender.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

POMONA - The man who admitted to killing an innocent woman, his estranged wife and attempting to shoot and kill two others will be spending decades behind bars.

Miguel Angel Prieto, who previously pleaded guilty to the above-mentioned crimes, was sentenced to 40 years to life in state prison, authorities announced recently.

In a blood-thirsty hunt for his estranged wife, Prieto shot a man and woman inside a vehicle parked on an industrial side street in the 1500 block of West McKinley Avenue in Azusa February 9, 2018. Prieto apparently believed the woman to be his estranged wife, Maria Perez. The man survived his wounds, the woman did not.

The woman was identified as Rocio Sandoval, 38.

April 7, 2018, Prieto ventured to the restaurant of Perez’s uncle in Long Beach and shot at a woman inside the restaurant he believed to be Perez’s aunt.

Prieto went to Perez’s Covina apartment April 11 and it was there that she was shot multiple times and killed, prosecutors previously said.

Witnesses and neighbors were able to identify Prieto as the gunman. He was located in Long Beach hours after his estranged wife’s slaying and arrested.

COVINA - Police announced October 30 the arrest of a man who allegedly used an air rifle to destroy property in and around Cypress Elementary school late last year.

Justin Lee Estep, 32, is accused of using what has been described previously by investigators as a large bore air rifle to cause destruction at homes and other buildings in the Covina area from November 2019 to January 2020.

Estep was booked on suspicion of felony vandalism, according to the Covina Police Department.

Covina officers in the patrol division and detective bureau developed new leads in the investigation and identified Estep as a suspect. A search warrant was written and executed, helping investigators to find and seize from Estep’s vehicle a high-powered air rifle wrapped in camouflage cloth, lead projectiles, an air tank and air compressor, according to the Covina Police Department.

Additional evidence was discovered inside the suspect’s residence, Covina Police said.

The vandalism occurred in the area of the 300 block of W. Cypress St. in unincorporated Covina.

The vandalism was first covered by SGV CityWatch at the beginning of the year.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - Azusa officers abruptly ended a pursuit of a reckless Hyundai Elantra that found its way into San Gabriel Valley surface streets.

The white Elantra was abruptly stopped by Azusa officers on Hollenbeck Avenue north of Covina Boulevard. One suspect was taken into custody. It is unclear if a second suspect seen earlier in the chase, was found and arrested.

The driver and his passenger were sought for possibly reckless driving by East Los Angeles CHP officers on the eastbound 60 freeway west of Peck Road. The driver bypassed traffic by using the right shoulder.

Officers attempted to stop the driver on the north 605 freeway near Ramona, but driver kept going into Duarte on surface streets. The chase went onto the East 210 freeway where officers could not keep up while the driver used the shoulder, according to California Highway Patrol radio traffic.

After exiting onto Citrus Avenue, the suspect took numerous side streets and stopped at an Azusa apartment complex near Azusa Avenue and Gladstone Street where the suspects ran on foot.

One or more of the suspects got back in the car and took off again.

San Dimas Sheriff’s deputies joined the chase along with Azusa police officers who used the Pursuit Intervention Technique to stop the driver.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - Police arrived en mas Thursday night to a neighborhood to quell a group of protestors who reportedly found the home of the deputy who fatally shot an 18-year-old man in Gardena.

The deputy reportedly lives in the area of Hollenbeck Avenue and San Bernardino Road. Protesters stood in the street, on the sidewalk and walked all over the front yard of a home believed to belong to Miguel Vega July 30.

Police from Covina, Glendora, Azusa and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department arrived to push back protestors who left behind signs at the home. Most, if not all, of the signs were removed by police.

In a video posted to social media, law enforcement could be seen going in and out of the home, talking to whoever was inside.

Deputies descended on Andres Guardado, who was employed as a security guard, at a Gardena business June 18.

Deputies claim they saw a gun on Guadardo’s person. Guardado ran from deputies a brief distance into an alley. He was shot and killed by deputy gunfire.

A gun was reportedly found in Guardado’s possession. Deputies allege he reached for his weapon during the foot pursuit.

Guardado’s death has strained the somewhat current tenuous relationship between law enforcement and the public, amidst calls for defunding law enforcement and amidst destructive protests and rioting.

Compounding the investigation is the allegations that shortly after shooting Guardado, deputies ripped surveillance cameras from a nearby business without a search warrant.

A security hold was placed on the autopsy report for Guardado — a standard procedure in police shooting investigations, but the very public family squabble between embattled Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and County authorities took an unexpected turn.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner defied the Sheriff’s security request and made public the preliminary results. Guardado was shot five times in the back, according to the coroner report.

An independent autopsy confirmed the county coroner’s findings.

COVINA - Homicide detectives are investigating the circumstances that led to  police opening fire on an armed, barricaded suspect Thursday night.

Authorities opened fire on the suspect around 12:43 a.m. and the suspect went down with undisclosed injuries. It was roughly 10 minutes before police approached him since they believed he still held a shotgun, according to Sheriff’s radio traffic.

Los Angeles County firefighters arrived to the 300 block of Vincent Avenue regarding a grass fire call in a field around 9:21 p.m. and encountered a suspect armed with a shotgun. Law enforcement was called and firefighters retreated.

COVINA - A man armed with a shotgun or rifle has taken refuge in the rear yard of a home after firefighters encountered him while fighting a grass fire.

The suspect is in a yard at 4126 North Morada Ave. Firefighters had to briefly evacuate after finding the man with the weapon, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department radio traffic.

COVINA - A suspicious, vintage-looking military canister was found to be empty after it turned up near a Bank of America drive-thru ATM Tuesday.

The canister was discovered near the ATM, 212 E. Badillo St., July 16. Los Angeles County Fire hazmat units and Covina Police responded around 3:42 p.m. Officers began warning nearby residents and nearby businesses. Some were evacuated or told to shelter in place.

Wording written on top of the canister made authorities believe the object contained some type of explosive material. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail was called, said Sgt. Joshua Turner of the Covina Police Department.

“We set up a perimeter on their suggestion based on how large the actual box was,” Turner said, adding the canister had writing suggesting it could have held 45 pounds of an unknown explosive material.