Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - One person died at the scene after a vehicle rolled over and ignited Sunday far above the La Crescenta area. The solo crash occurred near Big Tujunga Canyon Road and Vogel Flats Road September 29. Firefighters were dispatched around 11:53 a.m. to a reported overturned vehicle. The driver is the reported fatality, according to Melanie Flores, dispatch supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
According to California Highway Patrol traffic logs, all four occupants were ejected in the crash. The crashed vehicle was fully engulfed. No traffic lanes at or near the crash are blocked, according to CHP Officer Peter Nicholson of the CHP Traffic Management Center. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – Deputies are investigating a phoned threat about a shooting, or weapons threat inside an unspecified high school, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Thursday. Parents and students report heavy law enforcement presence at Rosemead High School, 9063 Mission Dr., in Rosemead. The San Gabriel Unified School District reported lockdowns were initiated at district schools out of an abundance of caution. The threat was reported more than an hour ago. “There was a threat regarding a weapon inside a high school. There were no witnesses or victims identified yet,” according to Deputy James Nagao of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
San Gabriel Police had San Gabriel High School surrounded, but lockdowns at all San Gabriel Unified Schools have since been lifted. There is still no immediate threat, police said. The incident may have been a prank call, which may have begun as a report of a son shooting his mother and was en route to Rosemead High School, according to Sheriff’s radio traffic. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Several people in a reported stolen Toyota were taken into custody Tuesday after recklessly leading authorities across several cities, a Sheriff’s sergeant said. The pursuit was initiated by authorities with a multi-jurisdictional auto theft task force in the West Covina area September 17. The pursuit went as far south as the Pico Rivera border from the 605 freeway before deputies cancelled the chase due to unsafe speeds, according to Lt. Verlich of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station. Pico Rivera deputies first joined the pursuit at 3:35 p.m. It was unclear if the stolen vehicle investigation was conducted by the Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention (TRAP). The driver, still followed by unmarked task force personnel, journeyed back north to the El Monte and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station jurisdiction before heading south on the 605 freeway again. The pursuit was witnessed by a SGV CityWatch reader as El Monte Police followed the stolen vehicle with the assistance of a helicopter.
El Monte officers were notified by the helicopter pilot at 3:43 p.m. and picked up the pursuit at Valley Boulevard and the 605 freeway after deputies decided to cancel the chase, according to Lt. Michael Buckhannon of the El Monte Police Department. Due to the driver’s reckless nature, El Monte officers ended the chase somewhere in the City of Industry at 3:57 p.m., Buckhannon said. It is unclear how many of the suspects were booked on charges and if the suspects were detained without further incident. 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. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories
All
|