Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA – An attempted murder suspect is facing seven years to life in state prison after admitting to slashing a woman’s throat during a rampage in 2017.

Lance Anthony Semkus, 75, pleaded no contest to one felony count of willful, deliberate and premeditated attempted murder. He also admitted to an allegation of using a knife and a deadly and dangerous weapon, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office Public Information Officer Ricardo Santiago.

The attack occurred October 23, 2017. After attempting to steal a woman’s dog outside a Pasadena pet store, Semkus approached another woman and slashed her throat. The woman fought back and survived, but suffered severe injuries, Santiago said.

Investigators learned that Semkus killed his two dogs.

Semkus is scheduled to be sentenced July 13 in Pasadena Superior Court.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

A pursuit wound its way through Pasadena surface streets. Eventually, the driver was reckless enough to warrant officers to back away to lessen the danger on the roadway, but the driver continued in an erratic fashion, forcing officers to reengage the suspect.

At the end of the pursuit at Allen Avenue and East Corson Street, the driver crashed head-on with a Pasadena police vehicle. The suspect opened fire at the police vehicle from inside the sedan. A bullet cracked the officer’s windshield.

The suspect exited his vehicle and fired at a second Pasadena officer who then shot back. Additional officers opened fire and took the suspect down. He died at the scene.

During the gunfire, a Pasadena police officer was struck on the leg by a bullet fired by one of his colleagues. The officer was not critically injured.

The suspect, 47-year-old San Diego man Lloyd Nelson, was identified as a former police officer in Los Angeles County, a former Pasadena resident and military veteran. Nelson’s motives that day remain unclear.

PASADENA - Three suspects allegedly involved in a shooting June 12 were arrested after one of the suspects crashed their ride, police said.

All three suspects, described as Pasadena residents, were booked on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon: 24-year-old Antonio Lizarraga, 30-year-old Michael Vasquez and a teen male.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - City officials have issued a curfew effective at 8 p.m. as rioting and looting in the wake of the death of George Floyd grows by the hour.

The Pasadena curfew is expected to last until 5:30 a.m. Sunday. Officials stated in a mass email that any person found outside during the curfew is subject to arrest and prosecution.

"On behalf of the Pasadena City Council, I support this proactive but necessary decision out of an abundance of caution for our community,” according to Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek.

Protests have devolved in the wake of the death of George Floyd while being pinned down by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

​Chauvin has since been arrested in the death of Floyd.

Protests have turned to destruction and looting of countless big name and “mom and pop” stores in most major U.S. cities.

Los Angeles continues to burn as Los Angeles Police officers backed by the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies try to maintain order.

Just hours after denying the need for the National Guard, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti requested Governor Gavin Newsom to mobilize them.

500 National Guard troops will descend in less than 7 hours.

PASADENA - Two men from Duarte were struck by gunfire from a late-model sedan Saturday afternoon in an attack police believe was not random.

The shooting took place around 4:11 p.m. in the 1500 block of North Lake Avenue May 23. Both victims, one 24 and the other 23 years old, were treated on scene by Pasadena fire paramedics and hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Pasadena Police Department.

PASADENA – Police arrested a man Sunday after they say he stole a city work truck while an employee performed maintenance at a park.

The truck was stolen around 8:23 a.m. April 26 from Villa Parke, 363 E. Villa St. The suspect hopped inside and drove off while the city worker was performing maintenance, Russo said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON 
CityWatch Editor ​

PASADENA - Beginning March 18, Pasadena City College will offer temporary remote instruction to students out of an abundance of caution to prevent potential coronavirus transmission, according to a campus statement.

The campus will also cancel or postpone events with a projected attendance of more than 100 people. Sporting events will continue as scheduled, sans spectators. These changes are expected to last through April 20, according to the statement posted on the Pasadena City College Student Health Services webpage.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - A possible full-term baby was found deceased in a bathroom stall at a public park Thursday night, a Pasadena Police lieutenant said.

A maintenance worker preparing to clean the restroom at Memorial Park, 85 E. Holly St., March 5 found the baby girl around 10:10 p.m., according to Lt. Carolyn Gordon of the Pasadena Police Department.

The baby was found in one of the stalls, Gordon said.

Gordon didn’t know if it appeared as if the baby was delivered in the bathroom. There was no apparent signs of trauma to the baby.

The cause of death will be determined by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Anyone with information on this incident is urged to call the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

PASADENA - Deputies are frantically searching for a stolen Lincoln Navigator hearse with a body in a casket taken from an Orthodox church in the unincorporated portion of Pasadena Wednesday night.

The navigator was stolen outside of Saint Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, 778 S. Rosemead Blvd., around 7:45 p.m. The driver stopped there to deliver one casket and reportedly left the hearse running. The vehicle and a second casket with a body were gone when the driver returned, according to Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Deputies do not have a suspect description, nor was the hearse seen being driven away from the church, Koerner said.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has a brief message for the suspect or suspects who took the hearse:

“ To the suspect(s) driving around in a Black Lincoln Navigator stolen from the 700 blk of Rosemead Bl ... Out of all the bad decisions you have made, at least make one good one & bring back the deceased person & casket inside the Navigator.”

The black Lincoln navigator hearse has a license plate of 7ZDG618.

PASADENA - Bomb squad techs were called to the Pasadena Rose Bowl Sunday after a police K9 smelled something inside a passenger vehicle entering the venue.

The Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail was called out of an abundance of caution, examined the content of the vehicle and found nothing suspicious, according to Lt. Sean Dawkins of the Pasadena Police Department.

Vendors were entering the Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Dr., when the police K9 was set off by a vehicle from one of the vendors arriving to set up for the upcoming game roughly around 3 p.m., Dawkins said.

Law enforcement was already showing a strong presence at the Rose Bowl, screening every vehicle that enters as part of the security process ahead of the big game, Dawkins said.