Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE - Los Angeles County Fire Department arson investigators and Irwindale police officers identified a stolen vehicle suspect after a Jeep SUV was found in flames in the San Gabriel River south of Huntington Drive Friday.

Matthew Thomas Dyer, 46, was arrested and booker on suspicion of felony arson. Tips from the community also helped lead to Dyer’s arrest, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

After the Jeep SUV Fire was extinguished Friday morning, officers learned the vehicle was stolen in Azusa September 24, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Dyer was released on a citation due to Los Angeles County’s “zero bail” policy, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

The destroyed Jeep was towed away and returned to the owner.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

IRWINDALE - Police arrested a man September 8 accused of firing upon motorists along the 210 freeway as he headed westbound into Irwindale where he caused more chaos.

Police responded to the 600 block of Live Oak Avenue around 6:37 a.m. to a call of an armed man holding an ambulance driver and his coworker at gunpoint. the driver fled, but officers found the suspect in a red 2015 Peterbilt semi at Live Oak Avenue and Myrtle Avenue and attempted a traffic stop, but the driver refused, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

The suspect committed several dangerous violations of the California Vehicle Code during a slow speed chase. He briefly escaped on foot after stopping at Peck Road and Wayland Way in Monrovia, but he was taken into custody.

“The officers were forced to physically detain the suspect, during which an electro-muscular disruption technology (EMDT) device was successfully deployed. He was then arrested without further incident,” according to the Irwindale Police Department in a written statement.

Officers recovered a loaded handgun from the suspect, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Investigators learned the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Jonathan Gomez from El Paso, Texas, brandished the handgun and fired it at at least two motorists.

“In one instance, the suspect fired upon a disabled motorist, forcing him to run across the freeway and in another instance, the suspect fired into an occupied vehicle, striking the vehicle with gunfire. Luckily no one was injured in any of these incidents,” according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Gomez was medically cleared and eventually jailed. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He potentially faces charges of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, false imprisonment, resisting arrest, evading arrest, driving under the influence of drugs and a number of weapons violations, according to the Irwindale Police Department.

Anyone with information on these incidents is asked to call Irwindale Police Detective Diego Cornejo at 626-430-2290 or at [email protected]. Information can be provided anonymously by calling LA Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS, through the P3Tips mobile app, or lacrimestoopers.org.