 Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A one-to-two-acre brush fire is burning in the Pomona hills. The fire is preliminarily sized at 100 feet by 100 feet, creeping slowly uphill near the 100 block of Diamond Ranch Road, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. A full brush fire response has been ordered, including helicopters and hand crews. The fire has the potential to spread to as many as three acres, firefighters said.
The fire is burning near Diamond Ranch High School. There is no reported threat to structures at this time. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate!  PHOTO/Pomona Police. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - Police arrested 24 men suspected of soliciting sex for money during an undercover operation overnight. Female officers went undercover along the Holt Corridor from 6 p.m. May 24 to 2 a.m. May 25 to find men soliciting for sex. Several men driving along Holt pulled over and negotiated exchanging cash for various sex acts, according to the Pomona Police Department. Once the deal was completed, the undercover officer signaled for a team of officers to detain the men, Pomona Police. Police impounded 22 vehicles and arrested 24 suspects:
The Holt Avenue Corridor is known nationally as “The Blade” for crime and prostitution. Assisting with the operation was the Azusa Police Department, Claremont Police Department and the Los Angeles County Multi-Agency Response Team. Get the email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate!  PHOTO/Pomona Police. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A man burrowed in the Pomona hillsides in a well-stocked treehouse was arrested May 21 after being identified as an alleged home burglar. 56-year-old Mark Duda was arrested Tuesday with the help of an infrared-equipped helicopter and Jax, the Pomona Police bloodhound. Duda was identified by the victim of a home burglary April 18, Pomona Police said. The burglary occurred in the Ganesha Hills neighborhood. Numerous items were stolen from a residence and garage.
At 9 p.m. May 21, police responded to the hillside in Ganesha Hills to a call of a man living in a treehouse off McKinley Avenue. A police helicopter equipped with an infrared camera located a “well-built modern treehouse” hidden deep in the hillside. The treehouse was accommodated with lighting, a barbecue and fire pit, Pomona Police said. Duda eventually surrendered to police. He was later charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office with burglary. Get the email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate!  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A man allegedly threatening to jump onto the westbound I-10 freeway was saved by firefighters on the northbound 57 freeway transition to the westbound I-10 Thursday. The man came down from being perched on the edge of the trans road right after firefighters arrived on scene. California Highway Patrol officers have the man detained, according to Inspector Brian Stevens of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
Firefighters were dispatched at 10:21 a.m. to the trans road and saw the man perched on the edge. They immediately requested a truck equipped with rescue air cushions in the event he jumped and requested all westbound lanes of the I-10 to be shut down. The man arrived to the location in a blue sedan. The car is being towed, according to the CHP.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - Firefighters pulled a trapped occupant from an overturned vehicle Tuesday morning. The crash occurred at North Garey Avenue and East Monterey Avenue jut after 9 a.m. Firefighters arrived on scene, reported one trapped occupant and extricated patient, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The extent of injuries is not immediately known.  PHOTO/Courtesy of Caltrans. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - An estimated 30 feet of concrete divider was destroyed and thrown across freeway lanes after a big rig crashed on the I-10 freeway Sunday morning. A two-hour Sig Alert is scheduled to expire or possibly extend around 10:40 a.m. for the HOV, No. 1, 2 and 3 lanes for eastbound lanes and the HOV and No. 1 lanes for the westbound side at Garey Avenue, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The big rig crashed and destroyed the center divider just west of Garey Avenue before 6:30 a.m. May 19. A vehicle struck the debris in the aftermath of the crash and became disabled as well.  PHOTO/Pomona Police. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - Pomona officers and California Highway Patrol officers conducting gang suppression in the city arrested a man accused of selling narcotics. Police searched the Pala Motel, 987 E. Holt Ave., and a location in Ontario and uncovered $13,000 in cash, more than one pound of heroin packaged for sales, several ounces of methamphetamine, digital scales and pay owe sheets, Pomona Police said. Officers stopped a suspicious vehicle at Third Street and Caswell Avenue around 8 p.m. May 10. They learned the driver, 56-year-old Rafael Ochoa from Ontario, had an unusually-large quantity of cash in small denominations and zip lock baggies in his possession, which is consistent with narcotics sales and/or distribution, Pomona Police said.
Officers then learned Ochoa is on federal probation for a firearm charge and is on probation in San Bernardino County for narcotics sales, Pomona Police said. A probation compliance check was conducted at the described locations where the cash and evidence of drug sales was confiscated. Ochoa was booked on suspicion of possession or purchase of a controlled substance for sales and possession of a controlled substance for sales.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A pedestrian is running around traffic lanes, fleeing CHP officers who are trying to catch him. The suspect was on foot in eastbound lanes of the I-10 freeway near Dudley. The man was walking west in westbound lanes near the center divider at Fairplex Drive just after 9:50 p.m., according to CHP radio traffic.
The suspect fled across lanes and kept to the shoulder until he fled south along the freeway and disappeared into some brush. The suspect is a Hispanic man, around 5 feet 10 inches tall, has a grey hat, black sweater and blue pants.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - A 19-year-old man will be arrested upon release from a hospital, accused of being under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs when he crashed head-on into a truck, causing the death of a child May 7, police said. Pomona man Franky Provencio is facing a murder charge, as well as possession of a controlled substance and violating his probation, Pomona Police said. The crash occurred around 4:24 p.m. Tuesday on White Avenue at McKinley Avenue when Provencio in his blue 2001 GMC Yukon drove over the median and slammed into a southbound truck, killing child Julian George and critically injuring driver Peter George of Upland. Julian was apparently not properly restrained, Pomona Police said.
Provencio was driving with a suspended license and was on probation for a 2018 DUI conviction, Pomona Police said. “Suspect Provencio was warned of the dangers of driving while intoxicated (Watson Advisement). Because of this advisement and Suspect Provencio’s actions, he is eligible for to be charged with murder,” Pomona Police said. Pomona Police’s case against Provencio was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and with the help of the DA’s DUI Training and Prosecution Section, the arrest warrant was obtained, Pomona Police said. Peter George had alcohol in his system, but the level of intoxication is not yet known, Pomona Police said. Provencio’s passenger was injured, but has since been treated and released from the hospital.  PHOTO/Azusa Police. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor POMONA - The 28-year-old part-time district staff member accused of sexually abusing a student had her arraignment postponed. Jessica Marie Esparza is accused of engaging in the illicit relationship when the alleged victim was 16 years old. The alleged acts occurred over the course of a year, according to Lt. Robert Chivas of the Azusa Police Department. Arraignment has been delayed to May 28. Esparza is charged with one count each of unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy of a person under 18, sexual penetration of a person under 18 and two counts of oral copulation with a person under 18, authorities said.
The alleged acts are believed to have occurred from March 2016 to October 2017. Esparza is a part-time Azusa Unified staff member. The alleged victim is a student of the district, according to Azusa Unified Superintendent Linda Kaminski. Administrators were made aware of the allegations Friday, May 3. They then notified Azusa Police officers around 2:20 p.m. the same day. “The district has a zero-tolerance policy regarding misconduct of any kind as the safety and security of our students is our chief priority,” Kaminski said in a written statement. “Breaches of trust are disheartening and will not be tolerated. As such, we remain to acting swiftly and aggressively to safeguard all of our learning environments.” The district is also conducting its own investigation, Kaminski said, and believes this was an isolated incident and that there are no other victims. |
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