 Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A reported robbery suspect who fled into the wilderness after a pursuit crash was taken into custody around 1:46 a.m. Monday. The suspect allegedly robbed someone along Angeles Crest Highway just before 1:30 a.m. September 16. The suspect was quickly found near mile marker 29 and detained at gunpoint, but fled in a vehicle, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic. The suspect fled, at times as fast as 65 miles per hour, in what was initially described as a grey Jeep south on Angeles Crest until the suspect crashed and possibly disabled a front tire around mile marker 27.3. The suspect stopped and fled the vehicle into the wilderness, but ultimately surrendered.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Homicide detectives and coroner investigators are attempting to learn the identity of skeletal remains discovered in the San Gabriel Mountains September 11. Surveyors working near Angeles Crest Highway at mile marker 45 found the remains around 12:25 p.m. The remains were found off the side of the road, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Coroner investigators will attempt to learn the identity and cause of death. Anyone with information on the possible identity of the victim is urged to call the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Information can be provided anonymously by calling L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A man accused of seeking out ricin to use as a biological weapon pleaded guilty Monday. Steve Kim, a 41-year-old La Crescenta man, pleaded guilty to a single count of violating a federal criminal statute called prohibition with respect to biological weapons, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. An undercover FBI operative sold Kim what the latter believed to be ricin, an extremely-potent biological agent that can kill through only a few tiny grains. Kim tried to obtain the deadly biological agent over a two-month period in 2018, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “During negotiations with the FBI operative, Kim stated that the ricin was intended for an individual who weighed 110 pounds, according to the plea agreement,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The operative sold Kim the fake ricin concealed in another substance for 320 Euros, (equalling $350 U.S. dollars) in bitcoin. The package was delivered to Kim’s Los Angeles workplace November 28, 2018. He was arrested after opening the package at his residence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Kim faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in federal prison, but after pleading guilty, the government agreed that it will recommend no more than 87 months.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The county DA slapped a capital murder charge against the domestic violence suspect who rapped about killing and burying his girlfriend. Robert Anthony Camou, 27, faces one count of murder with a special circumstance allegation of killing a witness and an allegation that he was out on bail when he committed the crime, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The case against Camou, originally filed May 29, also charged him with one felony count each of first-degree burglary, person present; injuring a girlfriend; and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. The charges also include one misdemeanor count of battery. While investigators have searched for the missing 31-year-old Amanda Custer, Deputy District Attorney Melanie Drew alleges Custer was killed by Camou on or about July 29.
The May 29 charges stem from an incident when Camou allegedly strangled Custer and threatened her with a stun gun. Custer fled to a neighbor’s home where she was chased inside by Camou who also attacked the resident within for intervening. If convicted as charged, Camou faces life in prison without parole. A decision to seek the death penalty will be made at a later date, Santiago said. Custer’s body has yet to be found.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Investigators are still working on positively identifying both men killed in a head-on crash in Pasadena September 2. Two men described as being in their 20s died at the scene of a crash after the driver of a black Toyota Corolla destroyed an LED radar in the 500 block of North Orange Grove Boulevard just before 11 p.m., Pasadena Police said.
The driver and left rear passenger were killed in the crash, which injured two other of the Corolla’s passengers. The injured passengers were hospitalized in stable condition, Pasadena Police said. Evidence at the scene suggested speed played a factor in the crash.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The 17-year-old hiker separated from his friends and later found dead September 2 was identified Tuesday. Ty Anthony Myers of Rancho Cucamonga was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. The body was found at the base of Switzer Falls in the San Gabriel Mountains by members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team, which received a call for assistance around 7:15 p.m. Monday, according to Lt. Chad Smeltzer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station.
A group of young males became separated for about three hours while hiking September 2. Two of the males were able to hike out and call for help, Smeltzer said. The victim possibly fell about 60 feet, Smeltzer said, but an autopsy will reveal the exact cause of death.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - Deputies believe the body of a 17-year-old hiker who possibly fell to his death after becoming separated from his friends was found Monday night, a Sheriff’s lieutenant said. The body was found at the base of Switzer Falls in the San Gabriel Mountains by members of the Montrose Search and Rescue Team, which received a call for assistance around 7:15 p.m., according to Lt. Chad Smeltzer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station.
A group of young males became separated for about three hours while hiking September 2. Two of the males were able to hike out and call for help, Smeltzer said. The victim possibly fell about 60 feet, Smeltzer said, but an autopsy will reveal the exact cause of death.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The suspects accused of killing a man reported missing by family in late August were formally charged, the County DA recently announced. La Verne man Elijah Thomas Rouse, 18, and Shaun Cardarelli, 37, from San Gabriel, were charged with one count of murder with the special circumstance allegation of killing during the commission of a robbery and an allegation that they used a knife as a deadly and dangerous weapon, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Evidence collected during a search warrant served in La Verne August 27 led investigators to believe the disappearance of 28-year-old John Aguila is connected to a burning body found in Upland Friday. San Bernardino County Firefighters responded to the San Antonio Heights area for a small brush fire near North Mountain Avenue and Euclid Avenue August 23 around 3:30 a.m. The body was located while flames were being extinguished.
The burned body has yet to be positively identified, however. Aguila, from West Covina, was last seen and heard from August 22 around 4:30 p.m. His abandoned car was found in San Dimas August 23 — bloodied gloves and clothing found within. Rouse and Cardarelli both face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged. They also face the death penalty. A decision on whether to seek capital punishment will be made at a later date, Santiago said.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES -The man accused of beating to death a 76-year-old woman during a burglary in her home April 9 pleaded not guilty Wednesday. Heber Enoc Diaz, from Pasadena, is charged with one count of murder with special circumstance allegations that the crime was committed during a robbery and a burglary. He also is charged with two felony counts of second-degree burglary and one felony count each of first-degree residential burglary, second-degree robbery and elder abuse, said Los Angeles County District Attorney’s public information officer Paul Eakins. Diaz, 27, is accused of causing great bodily harm when he used a hammer, a jab saw and a box cutter to kill Chyong Jen Tsai, according to the complaint. Diaz was previously employed by Tsai to renovate her home, but was not employed at the time Tsai stumbled upon the suspect burglarizing her garage. Diaz is also accused of burglarizing Tsai’s home March 19 while he was employed. Also charged in the case are Luis Alonso Cruz Gaitan, 33, of Altadena, who faces one felony count each of accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property exceeding $950 in value, and Isis Ondina Villalobos, 26, of Pasadena. She faces one felony count of accessory after the fact, Eakins said.
If convicted as charged, Diaz faces life in prison without the possibility of parole or death. Gaitan and Villalobos each face up to three years in county jail if convicted as charged. Diaz was scheduled to be arraigned in the Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Los Angeles. Gaitan and Villalobos are scheduled for a hearing June 28.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The California Highway Patrol will hold a sobriety checkpoint in the unincorporated area of Azusa Friday, August 23. The checkpoint, scheduled at an undisclosed area, will take place at 5:30 p.m. Traffic permitting, all vehicles will be checked, but if traffic volume increases, every third or fifth driver will be stopped to maintain objectivity, according to California Highway Patrol Captain Susan Estrem. The captain noted that checkpoints tend to, “reduce the number of drinking drivers on the road, even though arrest totals do not rise dramatically.”
A major value of checkpoints is their psychological influence, the CHP said. “We advise the news media well in advance whenever a checkpoint is planned, since extensive publicity also is viewed as a legal safeguard,” Estrem said. Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. |
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