Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A wrong turn killed one person and led to four others being hospitalized Wednesday afternoon, deputies said.

The crash occurred on Badillo Street at Sunflower Avenue in unincorporated Covina around 1:03 p.m. November 29. The T-bone collision led to four people being trapped inside one vehicle and they required firefighters to free them from the twisted wreck, according to reports from the scene.

“Upon our arrival, the Los Angeles County Fire Department was performing lifesaving procedures on one of the injured passengers. Unfortunately, the injured passenger succumbed to the injuries sustained and was pronounced deceased on scene,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

At least one person was transported to a waiting helicopter and flown to Los Angeles General Medical Center for further treatment.

Alcohol was recovered at the crash scene, but deputies determined none of the drivers were under the influence, according to the Sheriff's San Dimas Station.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

COVINA - A wrong U-turn killed one person and led to four others being hospitalized Wednesday afternoon, deputies said.

The crash occurred on Badillo Street at Sunflower Avenue in unincorporated Covina around 1:03 p.m. November 29. The T-bone collision led to four people being trapped inside one vehicle and they required firefighters to free them from the twisted wreck, according to reports from the scene.

“Upon our arrival, the Los Angeles County Fire Department was performing lifesaving procedures on one of the injured passengers. Unfortunately, the injured passenger succumbed to the injuries sustained and was pronounced deceased on scene,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

At least one person was transported to a waiting helicopter and flown to Los Angeles General Medical Center for further treatment.

Alcohol was recovered at the crash scene, but deputies determined none of the drivers were under the influence, according to the sheriffs San Dimas Station.

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 Nissan Pathfinder stolen from San Dimas was recovered December 18 and two people were arrested, a Covina police sergeant said.

The male driver of the stolen Pathfinder fled the vehicle on foot and hid in a neighborhood. A yard-to-yard search by Covina Police officers helped to locate the hiding suspect inside of a shed, according to Sergeant Gonzalez of the Covina Police Department.

Officers attempted to stop the driver at 8:45 a.m.

The male suspect fled to the 18600 block of East Weather Road after officers identified the stolen vehicle nearby at Arrow Highway and Barranca Avenue.

“He fled and attempted to evade officers. He then came to a cul de sac where he fled from the vehicle, leaving the passenger inside the vehicle,” Gonzalez told SGV CityWatch.

The female passenger was detained after the driver ran from the vehicle.

A search of the Nissan Pathfinder yielded drug paraphernalia and fraud-related items, Gonzalez told SGV CityWatch.

Helping with a containment were officers with the Azusa Police Department and deputies with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

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.

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 - Three people were arrested after another large crowd of protestors turned up at the reported home a deputy who fatally shot a man in Gardena.

The three were accused of various crimes, ranging from trespassing, to assaulting a peace officer and lynching — the latter is a confusing use of the term, according to Lt. Ryan Davis of the Covina Police Department.

“At some point there was an intoxicated person who came onto the property and pushed an officer,” Davis told SGV CityWatch. “As he was attempting to make an arrest, the crowd basically surrounded the officers and started pulling her away.”

The protestor was pulled away from the officer. Eventually, an unlawful assembly was declared and the crowd was dispersed roughly after 7 p.m. with the help of officers from Azusa, Glendora, West Covina and the San Dimas Sheriff’s Station.

The woman who allegedly assaulted an officer was later seen near the Covina Police Department and arrested, Davis told SGV CityWatch.

One of the people who pulled the protester away from the officer during the arrest was also found and taken into custody, Davis told SGV CityWatch. That person was booked on suspicion of lynching, which the California Penal Code describes as removing someone from police custody by means of a riot, Davis told SGV CityWatch.

Police originally responded to the home, which is located near San Bernardino Road and Hollenback Avenue, to keep protesters off the private property.

The protests began around 4 p.m.

Protesters allegedly placed Post-It notes and larger signs on the deputy’s home and walkway, Davis told SGV CityWatch. Protestors also wrote messages in chalk on a public as well as the private walkway claiming that Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy Miguel Vega is a murderer, Davis told SGV CityWatch.

One other person was arrested on suspicion of trespassing and for not providing his name to an officer.

COVINA - Four teens were arrested Wednesday after a feud between students of the Charter Oak Unified School district devolved to a brutal fight and social media threat of further violence at Charter Oak High School.

The reported threat of violence is supposedly to take place at Charter Oak High School Friday, November 22. Covina Police and San Dimas Sheriff’s deputies will have an increased presence to ensure the safety of students and staff, the Covina Police Department said in a written statement.

Social media posts suggest that the long-standing feud would allegedly escalate to gunfire and as the posts were shared more and more, people believed a school shooting was planned, according to Lt. Ryan Davis of the Covina Police Department.

“There isn’t any specific information that we can confirm as valid at this point,” Davis said.

COVINA - Three people were arrested Friday morning, accused of burglarizing a church near Charter Oak High School.

Two suspects caught in the act of burglarizing the church fled towards Charter Oak High School after deputies investigated a potential third burglary suspect found with stolen property, according to Lt. Mark Skaggs of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Station.

A resident near Charter Oak High School, 1430 E. Covina Blvd., called San Dimas deputies at 6:15 a.m. March 29 after discovering discarded musical instruments and a suspicious person in their driveway. When a deputy arrived, the suspicious person was gone, but he returned and was soon detained.

“Those instruments we recovered were stolen,” Skaggs said, adding that additional stolen paperwork was found.