 Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor IRWINDALE – A 23-year-old driver was identified as the victim in a fatal crash with a big rig February 26. Juan Carlos Recendez of Baldwin Park was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of medical Examiner-Coroner. The crash occurred on the northbound side of the freeway just south of Lower Azusa Road around 2:09 a.m. February 26. The No. 1 and 2 lanes were blocked for two hours, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Debris was reportedly spread across all lanes, forcing CHP officers to temporarily close all northbound lanes. Baldwin Park Police assisted the CHP by shutting down the northbound 605 freeway on ramp at Ramona Boulevard. The Los Angeles County Coroner arrived to retrieve the victim at 3:19 a.m. A Sig Alert, issued for the No. 1 and 2 lanes, was cancelled at 5:08 a.m.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - A 25-year-old grand theft auto suspect was arrested Thursday after crashing a hearse with a dead woman inside. James Juarez was taken into custody after fleeing Los Angeles Police officers on surface streets and to the southbound 110 freeway where he crashed the SUV at Vernon Avenue around 7:50 a.m. February 27. The body was still in the rear of the SUV inside a casket, authorities said. The SUV was spotted near 23rd and Figueroa Streets around 7:30 a.m. Juarez allegedly fled LAPD officers who attempted to stop him.
Juarez crashed into another vehicle. The collision injured one other person and caused major front end damage to the stolen Lincoln Navigator hearse. The SUV was stolen outside of Saint Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, 778 South Rosemead Blvd., around 7:45 PM February 26. The driver arrived to drop off one body at the church for a funeral and left the vehicle running. The SUV was gone when the driver exited the church, according to Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.  Google Maps. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor PICO RIVERA - A sedan slammed into a semi, killing the car’s driver on Rosemead Boulevard early Sunday morning. The sedan crashed into the semi on southbound Rosemead Boulevard south of San Gabriel Boulevard around 12:21 a.m. February 23. According to early CHP reports, the sedan went over and embankment and crashed, according to California Highway Patrol traffic logs. The victim died at the scene.
A Sig Alert was issued for nearly four hours for north and southbound lanes of Rosemead Boulevard between San Gabriel Boulevard and Gallatin Avenue. Northbound lanes were open sometime before 5 a.m. The Sig Alert was canceled just before 5:30 a.m. 
Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor
REGION - The California Highway Patrol continues to investigate a crash on a mountain road above Azusa that left a motorcycle rider with broken bones.
The crash occurred February 15 on Highway 39 south of North Fork Road just before 1 p.m. The rider was taken to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for his injuries. Charges may be considered once the investigation is concluded. No one has been arrested yet, according to Rodrigo Jimenez of the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Office. The motorcycle rider was southbound on Highway 39 at mile marker 28.89. A black BMW was headed northbound when the driver pulled away at high speed from another vehicle recording it, Jimenez told SGV CityWatch. The BMW driver, a 19-year-old Los Angeles resident, sideswiped a Chrysler 300 while making a turn and slammed head-on into a Yamaha motorcycle as the BMW crossed into opposing lanes, Jimenez told SGV CityWatch.
In the video, the Yamaha is thrust backwards by the impact with the BMW, The Yamaha was hit from behind by a Hyundai Veloster, projecting it into the air just above the motorcycle rider who somersaulted in the air before hitting the pavement. The BMW then struck the front of the Ford Mustang.
Initially, medics determined the 25-year-old motorcycle rider from Santa Ana suffered a fractured right hand and a fractured right leg which also suffered lacerations and abrasions. “I’m very surprised he survived,” Jimenez said of the motorcycle rider. “I’m sure, had he not been wearing a helmet, it would have ended up being a fatality.” SGV CityWatch reached out to the rider, but he has not returned a request for an interview. The driver of the Veloster, a 21-year-old from Huntington Beach, received abrasions to his left shoulder and abdomen, Jimenez said, who cautioned about unnecessary driving habits on mountain roads. “Those roads are nice, right? The scenery is great, but at the end of the day it’s everyone’s responsibility to drive safe,” Jimenez said. “It’s not a racetrack, it’s not a closed course. If you leave your lane, you’re putting other lives at risk.”  PHOTO by Aaron Castrejon. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – The suspect accused of stabbing an Uber driver and holding law enforcement at bay into the nighttime hours appeared in court February 20. Ricky Andrew Alvarez, 23, pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon (knife), assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury; and assault with a deadly weapon by means likely to produce great bodily injury on transportation personnel or passenger, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Public Information Officer Ricardo Santiago. The allegation includes that Alvarez inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim. Alvarez allegedly stabbed an Uber driver multiple times February 17 just before 1 p.m. Witnesses helped Glendora Police locate Alvarez, who fled into a room at the Glendora Motel, 330 W. Route 66, where five other people associated with him were staying. The Uber driver was treated on scene by paramedics and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to the Glendora Police Department. The regional Foothills Special Enforcement Team, a SWAT team made of officers from nearby police departments, responded to assist in apprehending the people barricaded inside one of the hotel rooms. After hours of negotiations, the six exited the motel and where detained.
One of the six was transported to an area hospital for undisclosed reasons. Also arrested from the hotel room were Frank Zavalza, 30; Bridgette Irene Hamlin, 23; Luis Davila, 23; and Larissa Breann Cano, 21. The four others arrested were booked on suspicion of identity theft and obstructing an officer. Cano and Hamlin were additional booked for warrants, according to Glendora Police booking records. Alvarez is being held in the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic ahead of a scheduled appearance in the West Covina Courthouse March 16.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor PASADENA - A man and woman involved in an altercation in a Rose Bowl parking lot that led to the stabbing death of a man pleaded no contest February 11. Los Angeles man Miguel Castaneda, 24, and Pasadena woman Valentina Rosales, 25, entered their pleas Tuesday in he stabbing death of Demetrio Tapia Jr. Castaneda, who pleaded to one felony count of voluntary manslaughter and admitted using a knife, faces 12 years in state prison. Rosales, who pleaded to one felony count of accessory after the fact, faces four years in prison, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Castaneda fought with Tapia and stabbed him in a Rose Bowl parking lot, October 1, 2018. Rosales drove Castaneda from the scene, prosecutors said. Sentencing for both is scheduled on March 4 in Department E of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Pasadena Branch, Santiago said.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office prosecutors announced 66,000 marijuana convictions in Los Angeles County will be dismissed as part of an effort to promote criminal justice reform. The convictions, dating back to 1961, will be dismissed as part of a partnership with Code for America which implemented the Clear My Record pilot program to clear convictions in five California counties: San Francisco County, Contra Costa County, Sacramento County, San Joaquin County and Los Angeles County. 62,000 of those were felony convictions. 4,000 were misdemeanors, with cases filed in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Torrance, Pasadena, Inglewood, Burbank, Santa Monica, Hawthorne, Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. The convictions were eligible for relief under Prop 64, the Control, Regulate and Tax Adult Use of Marijuana Act, which was passed by the majority of voters November 8, 2016. “The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles County will bring much needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” said Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey. In total, more than 85,000 marijuana convictions were dismissed and sealed across the five counties, according to Evonne Silva, senior program director of criminal justice at Code for America.
“This is a clear demonstration that automatic record clearance is possible at scale and can help right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” Silva said. 53,000 people will receive conviction relief through this partnership. Of those, approximately 32 percent are Black or African American, 20 percent are White, 45 percent are Latinx, and 3 percent are other or unknown, the District Attorney’s Office said. Under AB 1793, those with prior convictions for cannabis-related crimes will not be required to petition the court for redesignation or dismissal. The Department of Justice was required to review cases and identify convictions eligible for redesignation or dismissal by July 1, 2020. The bill then requires the courts to automatically redesignate or dismiss convictions by July 1, 2020. “The Clear My Record Application allows District Attorneys to securely and accurately evaluate eligibility for convictions by reading and interpreting criminal history data from the California Department of Justice,” the District Attorney’s Office said. To find out if your record has been cleared, or for more information about this initiative, contact the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office by phone at 323-760-6763 or visit pubdef.lacounty.gov.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LONG BEACH - San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputies arrested a suspect January 31 believed to have robbed banks in Pasadena, Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga. San Bernardino County man Steven Ray Simmons, 48, was located by San Bernardino County deputies at a Long Beach motel. Evidence found in Simmons’ motel room linked him to a Pasadena bank robbery, according to the Pasadena Police Department. A Chase Bank, 132 E. Colorado Blvd., was robbed January 30 at 2:14 p.m. A demand note was handed to the bank teller. The suspect fled before officers arrived and escaped with $3,200, Pasadena police said. The FBI responded to investigate the Pasadena robbery and believed the suspect also previously committed bank robberies in Ontario and Rancho Cucamonga.
“Pasadena police detectives collaborated with Ontario Police Department and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to determine if, in fact, it was the same suspect. All available evidence suggests the same suspect is responsible for the three robberies,” Pasadena Police said in a written statement. Anyone with information about this case is urged to call the Pasadena Police Department at 626-744-4241. Information can be provided anonymously by calling L.A. Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477); through the P3 Tips mobile app, or at lacrimestoppers.org.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - 70 federal, state and local agencies across the Golden State worked to put a dent in the human trafficking world, rescuing nearly 100 victims and making hundreds of arrests. Operation Reclaim and Rebuild, the annual operation targeting those who work in sex trafficking and their customers, netted 518 arrests, which included 266 sex buyers, 27 traffickers and 190 commercial sex workers. 87 victims were rescued, including 11 minors, according to the Pomona Police Department. The operation took place from Sunday, January 26 to Sunday, February 1, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Azusa Police, Pomona Police officers from the Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking Team and SETT liaisons arrested four women and three men during enforcement along the infamous Holt Avenue corridor February 1. The operation was coordinated during Human Trafficking Awareness Month.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Jury members deliberated for two days, ultimately convicting a former Los Angeles Police officer in the murder of a man in Downtown Pomona. Henry Solis, 31, was found guilty of one count of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Salome Rodriguez. Solis faces 40 years to life in state prison if convicted as charged, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The shooting took place March 13, 2015. Rodriguez walked past Solis as he stood outside a Pomona bar. Solis pursued Rodriguez and fatally shot him. Solis’ attorney tried to persuade the jury that Solis shot Rodriguez in self defense after being attacked.
Solis said in testimony that the shooting resulted from an arrest gone wrong and claimed he pursued Rodriguez who allegedly sexually assaulted Solis. Solis fled after the murder and took refuge in Mexico until his capture and extradition more than two months later. Solis is scheduled to be sentenced March 11. |
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