Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - The Covina Police Department is asking for donations to aid the family of an officer who remains hospitalized from injuries sustained in a pursuit crash.

While all of the medical costs for Jesse Gutierrez are being covered, there are still financial gaps that need addressing, which is why the Covina Police Department is reaching out to the community for donations, according to Covina Police Chief David Povero.

Gutierrez remains in a medically-induced coma. He has been with the department for more than four years and is a newly-appointed K9 handler. He is married and has a 5-year-old son and 1-year-old son. He obtained the rank of sergeant while serving overseas with the Marine Corps, Povero said.

Officer Jesse Gutierrez was dispatched around 4 a.m. May 6 to investigate a disturbance call in the 500 block of South Eremland Drive. Gutierrez located a vehicle connected to the disturbance and attempted to speak to the driver, but the driver refused to exit the vehicle and fled. Gutierrez gave chase, but crashed and was seriously injured at Rowland Street and Shoppers Lane, according to the Covina Police Department.

Officers providing back up, continued to pursue the driver until the pursuit ended on the I-10 Freeway at Vincent Avenue. Alexis Santiago Avila, 27, was arrested.

“You can tell he’s lived a life of service and has been a great team member here at the Covina Police Department,” Povero said of Gutierrez.

Gutierrez’s K9 partner was in the police vehicle during the crash. The K9 was examined and is doing fine while being cared for by other Covina officers, Povero said.

The Peace Officers Research Association of California, in association with the Covina Police officers Association, is collecting donations to aid Gutierrez’s wife Beverly and his sons. The effort has a $50,000 goal and has raised nearly $40,000 so far.

Donate at the following link: DONATE NOW

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A police officer and his K9 were transported and evaluated after crashing during an early-morning pursuit.

The officer was pursuing a disturbance suspect who fled from him and other officers in the 500 block of Eremland Drive May 6. The crash occurred at East Rowland Street and Shoppers Lane, according to the Covina Police Department.

Officers were dispatched to investigate a disturbance call on Eremland around 4 a.m.

The pursuit suspect stopped and surrendered on the I-10 Freeway at Vincent Avenue.

Alexis Santiago Avila, 27, was taken into custody. He was booked on suspicion of felony evading, driving under the influence and driving on a suspended license, according to the Covina Police Department.

The condition of the officer and K9 are not publicly known.
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The West Covina Police Department and California Highway Patrol are assisting with the investigation.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

GLENDORA - Two juveniles were arrested after attempting to evade Covina police officers during a pursuit Tuesday night.

The joyriding juvies were found in a Kia Optima taken in Garden Grove around 11 p.m. September 19. Officers attempted to pull over the driver at North Grand Avenue and East Cypress Street, but the driver refused to stop, according to Sgt. Seok Lee of the Covina Police Department.

The juveniles ran from the Optima on Sunflower Avenue near the 210 freeway. The passenger was immediately arrested upon fleeing the vehicle. The driver ran north up into the South Hills area and attempted to hide in some bushes, but was quickly found by searching officers, Lee told SGV CityWatch.

Lee did not immediately know if any weapons or stolen property were found in the vehicle.

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.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - Crashing into a fence and disabling his vehicle did not stop a hit and run suspect from fleeing police until officers had to stop him July 8.

The suspect, a parolee-at-large, crashed into a fence at East Italia Street and Prospero Drive around 6:22 p.m. Officers located him and pursued the driver when he refused to stop, according to Lt. Tony Zavala of the Covina Police Department.

During the chase, the driver got into multiple crashes, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

During the slow-speed chase, the driver, identified as Covina man Raymundo Duran circled the area of Ruddock Street, North Prospero Drive, Vecino Drive and San Bernardino Road.

The above-mentioned roads encompass Duran’s home where family members also went out to greet him, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

Covina officers further disabled Duran’s vehicle with spike strips. A PIT maneuver caused Duran to crash onto a sidewalk at East San Bernardino Road and North Grand Avenue.

Duran fled on foot before being tackled by Covina officers.

“He also had some narcotics paraphernalia in the car and he admitted to using heroin prior to the pursuit,” Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

Duran was booked on misdemeanor hit and run, felony evading, resisting arrest and for a no-bail parole warrant, Zavala told SGV CityWatch.

Duran is being held at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina courthouse Tuesday, July 13.

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

COVINA - A pursuit suspect disabled his vehicle while driving through an Azusa neighborhood early Saturday morning and eventually escaped on foot, a police lieutenant said.

Officers attempted a traffic stop on the driver for excessive window tint in the area of Azusa Avenue and Arrow Highway around 1:13 a.m. October 17. The suspect led officers on a chase, running a red light and a stop sign during his getaway, according to Lt. Josh Turner of the Covina Police Department.

Officers ultimately located a Glock hand gun loaded with an extended gun clip inside the suspect vehicle, Turner told SGV CityWatch.

The pursuit quickly entered Azusa where the chase took the side streets before the driver disabled the vehicle he was in.

The driver struck a dip in the road at high speed at South Louise Ave south of West Paramount Street, Turner told SGV CityWatch.

“The suspect popped two of his vehicle’s tires after hitting a ditch. He then foot bailed from his vehicle into a residential neighborhood,” Turner told SGV CityWatch.

A Covina police K9 and a police helicopter helped officers on the ground search for the suspect, but no suspect was found.

Officers impounded the silver sedan the suspect was driving, Turner told SGV CityWatch.

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.

COVINA - A convicted felon carjacked a grandfather and slammed into an innocent driver in San Dimas Tuesday after leading authorities on a pursuit.

Brian Edward Hardy, 36, is accused of taking an occupied vehicle by force around 9:30 a.m. November 12 from a parking lot at 1359 N. Grand Ave. A man and his 1-year-old grandchild were seated in the vehicle as it was taken, according to the Covina Police Department.

After taking the vehicle, the grandfather fought back, forced the transmission into park and escaped with his grandchild, Covina Police said.

Covina officers found hardy in the carjacked vehicle in San Dimas. Hardy allegedly attempted to charge officers as they approached.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - Two Los Angeles women will be resting inside some jail cells Friday after stealing from a Walmart shopping center and leading police on a brief chase just before 10 a.m.
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The women were found after crashing into a tree during the pursuit, just two blocks away from where they lifted the merchandise at Walmart, 1275 N. Azusa Ave., January 25. Officers saw a vehicle parked outside the store, still running with no one inside, according to the Covina Police Department.