 PHOTO/Courtesy of the Glendora Police Department. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – The 30-year-old man accused of threatening to unleash gunfire at Citrus College was officially charged Thursday. Terrell Lee Bennet faces one felony count each of making criminal threats and unlawful possession of ammunition, according to Venusse Navid of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Bennett pleaded not guilty in West Covina Superior Court. Bennett faces a maximum of 10 years and four months in state prison if convicted as charged, Navid said. Bennett, initially identified as a Chino resident, was identified by the County DA’s office as living in Pomona.
Bennett called Glendora Police at 11:17 a.m. January 15 and threatened to shoot up the school. Within 11 minutes, police had the campus and surrounding streets locked down. Mutual aid from numerous surrounding agencies arrived soon after to assist, Glendora Police said. Nearby Azusa Pacific University was also placed on lockdown during the search. Bennett is enrolled in online courses at Citrus College and was scheduled to appear for an in-person class the day he made the threats, Glendora Police said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives Detail was summoned to the scene just before 11:40 a.m. after Bennett’s car was located. The silver four-door car was parked in the S1 parking lot, which rests in the corner of Citrus Avenue and Foothill Boulevard. While not stated by Glendora Police, a bomb-sniffing dog preliminarily detected a scent of explosives on the car, according to police radio traffic. However, Arson/Explosives technicians found no bombs inside the car, Glendora Police said. Officers began a room-to-room search of each building at 12:38 p.m. About three hours later, Bennett surrendered peacefully on the Citrus College campus at 3:42 p.m. -- nearly five hours after making the threats, according to the Glendora Police Department. Bennett made statements after being arrested alluding to a desire to die by officer gunfire, police said.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – The manner of death for the armed suspect found dead after hiding from Azusa Police at the end of a brief struggle and officer gunfire December 21 remains hidden. A security hold was placed on the publication of information related to the coroner investigation for Azusa man Jose Javier Lemus, 57, who was found dead in an Azusa warehouse, according to Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau placed the security hold, Smith said. A call to the detective handling the investigation was not returned. It is unclear if Lemus died from officer gunfire, or if he took his own life. At least three Azusa Police officers arrived to a warehouse around 12:40 a.m. December 21 on a reported suspicious person, or possible burglary in progress. Upon contacting Lemus, he produced a handgun and a struggle for the weapon ensued, Azusa Police said.
As Lemus fled police, at least one officer opened fire, but it has not been disclosed if the suspect was struck. The disappearance of Lemus sparked a nearly 10-hour search in the area. A portion of Irwindale Avenue from West 1st Street to Gladstone Street was blocked. Glendora, Covina, Irwindale, Baldwin Park Police and a helicopter aided in a search. The suspect was found dead jut before 11:30 a.m. inside the same warehouse in the 1500 block of McKinley Avenue where officers initially contacted him, according to the Azusa Police Department.  PHOTO/Courtesy of the Covina Police Department. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – The County DA has filed one count of murder Wednesday against the woman who allegedly stabbed her own son multiple times in a Covina townhouse. Xa Dinh Ngo, also known as Michelle Ngo, 39, faces one count of murder with a special allegation that she personally used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife, according to Spokeswman Venusse Navid of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Ngo is scheduled for arraignment in Pomona Superior Court. She faces 26 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged. Ngo is accused of stabbing her toddler son, 2-year-old Alvis Puentes, on the second floor of their Covina townhome at 141 E. Italia St. January 11 around 3:30 a.m.
A Covina Police sergeant on patrol found a partially-clothed Ngo running down the road in the 300 block of North Second Avenue. Ngo tried to flee from officers, but was ultimately detained and found with blood splattered on her body. She alluded to a possible victim somewhere in town, but refused to speak further, Covina Police said. After Ngo was hospitalized, police learned her address, arrived to the location and found a small fire burning inside, Covina Police said. Police entered the home and discovered Puentes’ body. Ngo is scheduled for arraignment in Pomona Superior Court.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – A transient has been charged with one count of murder in the strangulation killing of a Pasadena woman, the County DA said Tuesday. Mary Jean O’Connor, 41, was charged in the December 17 death of Jeri Douglas. Pasadena Police discovered Douglas’ dead body in her home, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Officers had to force entry into Douglas’ home in the 200 block of South Madison Avenue around 3:40 p.m. She was found with apparent head trauma to the body, according to the Pasadena Police Department.
O'Connor was identified by investigators, was found in North Hollywood December 26 and arrested, Pasadena Police said. The two women were acquaintences.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES – Both victims killed in an Azusa triple shooting January 8 were named Thursday. Mario Ramirez, 28, and Daniel Isaac Zeledon, 15, both from Azusa, were identified by Sarah Ardalani, public information officer with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Although both struck by gunfire, autopsies have yet to be scheduled for Zeledon and Ramirez to determine the exact cause of death. Azusa Police officers found Zeledon and Ramirez dead after responding to a call of a gunshot victim in the 600 block of East 6th Street at 10:12 p.m. Tuesday. An additional victim was also found near the scene. He was later hospitalized and is expected to survive his injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau. Homicide detectives initially believed that Zeledon was an intended target.
“We believed the individual initially shot was the intended target, but we haven’t confirmed that yet,” according to Lt. Charles Calderaro of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.
A motive for the shooting is either unknown or was not disclosed. The surviving suspect has not been charged with a crime yet, Calderaro said. An unknown subject shot at the fleeing suspects after they opened fire. Detectives have yet to identify the unknown subject, Calderaro said Anyone with information on the shooting is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Information can be provided anonymously by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The driver long unidentified after causing a crash that killed him and sparked a three-acre brush fire above Azusa was named recently. Michael Ramirez, 25, from Los Angeles, died from multiple injuries, according to a report issued by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. The crash occurred at mile marker 23 November 19. Ramirez’s unknown-model sedan was found 200 feet dover the side -- the body was found 80 feet from the embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol. It was unclear if Ramirez was ejected, or walked away from the vehicle before dying.
A driver witnessed the car go over the embankment and flagged down Sheriff’s deputies, the CHP said.
CHP investigators determined Ramirez was traveling south at an unsafe speed and failed to negotiate a roadway curve, drove across northbound lanes, collided with a dirt embankment and descended into a ravine. The crash sparked a three-acre brush fire that was quenched with ground crews and helicopters from the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County Fire Department. Fire personnel discovered the body while battling flames and Ramirez was declared dead at 6:56 p.m., the CHP said. Ramirez was wearing a seat belt, the CHP said.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – Investigators examining a deadly collision on the I-10 freeway from January 5 is not a hit and run as was initially suspected. The California Highway Patrol stated the 30-year-old Covina driver of the Honda Accord that struck and killed 22-year-old Grisol Lupita Ramirez did stop at the scene and spoke with officers. The Accord struck Ramirez after she exited a Honda Civic that spun out on the westbound I-10 freeway near Holt Avenue around 11:25 p.m. The Civic likely spun out of control in the No. 4 lane after encountering rain-slicked roads. Ramirez exited the right front passenger side door and was hit in the No. 1 lane. She died at the scene.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor KERN COUNTY – A 21-year-old man was located and arrested last month in Azusa after being identified as one of three suspects accused of murdering a 17-year-old girl.
Anthony Bonczekwas arrested at an undisclosed location in Azusa by Kern County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office. Bonczek was booked on three felony-level charges, including first degree murder, assault with a firearm on a person and participating in a street gang, according to Kern County arrest records. Arrested that same day was 21-year-old Arthur Hernandez. A third man, 29-year-old Matthew Morrissette, was booked along with Hernandez on the same felony charges. He was held in Kern County Jail on unrelated charges when investigators identified him, the Kern County Sheriff’s Office said. In December 2017, 17-year-old Kawanza Hilt was murdered in Rosamond, California. Kern County Sheriff’s homicide detectives and Mojave Substation detectives worked on information leading to the three men being identified. In early December 2018, a case was filed against the three men and arrest warrants led to their arrests. The three men have since pleaded not guilty to the murder and are scheduled to appear again in Kern County Superior Court in Bakersfield January 28.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor BALDWIN PARK – A suspect allegedly possessing stolen comic books and a stolen car was arrested Thursday morning after fleeing CHP officers at superhero speed.
Timogene David Guillen, 25, was arrested on his birthday in Bellflower on Alondra Boulevard west of Eucalyptus Avenue after stopping for officers who pursued him from Diamond Bar, said Public Information Officer Rodrigo Jimenez with the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Office. Guillen allegedly refused to stop for the CHP after he was witnessed driving at high speed on the westbound 60 freeway at Grand Avenue around 1:33 a.m. January 3. Guillen, followed by CHP cruisers and a helicopter, sped along freeways behind the wheel of a stolen Nissan Maxima, at times in excess of 130 miles per hour, according to CHP radio traffic. After transitioning to the southbound 605 freeway, Guillen exited onto Alondra Boulevard where he eventually surrendered in Bellflower. “Upon inventory of the Nissan, officers located a large quantity of collectible comic books and determined that both the comic books and the vehicle had been stolen,” Jimenez said. Guillen was booked at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles on suspicion of felony evading, possession of a stolen vehicle, grand theft and receiving stolen property.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man convicted of gunning down his wife’s mother and father inside his family’s home will see the inside of a prison cell until he dies.
Zhang and Diao, both 60, visited from China in 2016. Wang executed them both April 13 of that year inside his family’s home in the 1300 block of East Oahu Avenue ahead of his in-laws’ planned trip back home after months of friction with their son-in-law, prosecutors said.
West Covina Police were called to the home that day after a neighbor reported hearing gunfire and children screaming. Officers found the dead couple inside. Wang’s children were found hiding in a bathroom. His wife was at work when the shooting occurred, prosecutors said. Wang surrendered at the home without incident. Wang had previously threatened his wife’s life and the life of her parents, according to prosecutor Deputy District Attorney Kelsey McKeever-Unger. |
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