Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

AZUSA - US Forest Service personnel notified deputies of a dead body discovered along Highway 39 in the San Gabriel Mountains Thursday morning, a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s sergeant said.

The body was found off the side of the road along mile marker 21. The body is listed as a John Doe, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Law enforcement was called to the scene around 9:30 a.m. Homicide detectives were called to investigate. Initially, detectives believe this to be a natural death, according to Sgt. Patrick Gadut of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station.

The coroner will determine cause of death.

LOS ANGELES – Detectives and the family members are pleading with the community to help find the gunman who shot and killed a man in Hacienda Heights.

Alfonso Guzman Jr., a 26-year-old Duarte man and father of two, was shot dead in his vehicle as he sat parked with his girlfriend on a scenic overlook in the 3300 block of Turnbull Canyon Road around 1 a.m. May 20. His girlfriend suffered injuries not life-threatening, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

REGION – Authorities continue to search for six men wanted in connection with a large-scale drug trafficking organization.

The six fugitives are among 13 others named in four separate indictments and charged with various offenses related to drugs and weapons. The crimes were carried out in the Los Angeles Police Department’s Harbor Division, according to the FBI Los Angeles Field Office.

Pomona man Hector Yair Sanchez, 25, is among the six fugitives charged in Operation “Wipe Out,” initiated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Interagency Metropolitan Police Apprehension Crime Task Force in 2020. Four indictments were unsealed November 16.

From April to July 2021, undercover officers conducted numerous operations that helped identify the 13 suspects from California and Arizona. Officers seized 250 pounds of methamphetamine, one pound of fentanyl, six handguns and one rifle, according to the FBI.

Arrested were:
Adrian Abasolo, 26, from San Diego
Alejandro Mendoza, 45, from Los Angeles
Hector Valentin, 28, from Long Beach
Rodolfo Ulyses, 61, from Bullhead City, Arizona
Juan Antonio Aguilar-Bravo, 45, from Calexico
Gabriela Contreras, 42, from Gardena
Marisela Sanchez, 43, from Wilmington

Those arrested were scheduled for initial court appearances Tuesday in the nearest federal district court to where the arrests occurred.

Still sought are:
Hector Yair Sanchez, 25, from Pomona
Christian Garcia, 29, from Long Beach
Jorge Luis Perez Sandoval, 36, from Victorville
Luis Fernando Verdugo, 25, from Pacoima
Alexander Guerrero, 42, from Los Angeles
Oscar Humberto Gallegos, 35, from San Diego

Among the charges are: conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; felon in possession of firearm and ammunition; conspiracy; unlawful sale, transport, and transfer of a firearm by an unlicensed dealer; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine; and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine, according to the FBI.

If convicted as charged, the suspects face a range of statutory maximum sentences ranging from five years to life in prison, according to the FBI.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS - A burned body was discovered after firefighters extinguished a destructive mobile home fire in the mountains above Azusa early Wednesday morning.

The fire claimed one life, destroyed three mobile home trailers and burned a 10-foot x 10-foot spot of vegetation at Camp Williams Resort, 24210 East Fork Road., November 17. Firefighters were dispatched at 1:04 a.m. and arrived by 1:22 a.m., according to Dispatch Supervisor Martin Rangel of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The fire was knocked down at 2:09 a.m. Firefighters made a request for the coroner at 2:24 a.m., Rangel told SGV CityWatch.

There is no identification yet for the victim.

“No ID yet. It’s probably going to be a while. We don’t even have a gender yet,” according to Lt. David Smith of the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

REGION - Evidence was recovered and a suspect was arrested November 8, accused of pulling the trigger in the shooting that claimed the life of a Monrovia woman.

Sidney Terrence Johnson, a 25-year-old Los Angeles man, was tracked down after a two-month investigation and arrested at his home. He was booked on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $2 million bail. The case has been submitted to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bertha Hernandez, 35, was found with a gunshot wound to the head in a crash vehicle on the eastbound 210 freeway east of Baldwin Avenue, September 4.

Hernandez was driving a black Mercedes-Benz when the shooting occurred around 9:05 a.m.

“Upon arrival, officers observed a solo vehicle that had multiple bullet holes on the driver's side and the solo female occupant inside the vehicle had sustained multiple gunshot wounds,” according to the California Highway Patrol in a written statement.

CHP officers responding to calls of gunfire and a traffic collision found the Mercedes-Benz had crashed into a sound wall, multiple bullet holes peppered the driver side. Hernandez was declared dead at the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The events leading up to the shooting are either unknown, or have yet to be publicly shared.

Johnson is being held at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles. There is no court date information available.

LOS ANGELES - A Pasadena man who pleaded guilty late last year to conspiracy to kidnap was sentenced for his part in a plot that ended with a victim’s body being unearthed months after the victim was kidnapped.

Anthony Valladares, 29, was sentenced to 195 months in federal prison. Hired as the “muscle,” Valadares was one of four men directly involved in the kidnapping of Ruochen “Tony” Liao in San Gabriel. Liao was beaten, restrained and held for a $2 million ransom that was demanded from his parents, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin also ordered Valladares to pay $33,090 in restitution.

Valladares pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to kidnap October 2020.

Liao met with Chinese national Peicheng Shen, 35. The latter used an alias several times while communicating with Liao, pretending to help him settle a debt. During a third meeting, Shen met Liao at a San Gabriel shopping center July 16, 2018 and lured him into a van, according to court documents.

Valladares was hiding in the van. Shen uttered a word to the “muscle,” who helped to beat shocked with a stun gun, restrained with zip ties and covered with a black hood, according to court documents.

“Valladares admitted to helping Yang acquire the taser used in the kidnapping and admitted to acquiring a revolver and bullets for the kidnapping,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement.

Alexis Ivan Romero Velez, a 25-year-old Azusa man, was hired by Valladares. Velez drove the van to a house in Rosemead where Liao was placed into another vehicle.

Shen and another co-conspirator, Chinese national Guangyao Yang, 28, took Liao to a home in Corona where his legs and arms were restrained and his eyes taped shut. He was then confined to a closet, according to court documents.

“The day after the kidnapping, the victim’s father received a demand for a $2 million ransom in exchange for the victim’s life, with the money to be deposited into three Chinese bank accounts within three hours,’ according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in a written statement.

Valladares was apparently not present when Liao was killed.

Investigators learned of Yang’s Internet search history, which included discovering how long it takes for a body to decompose in soil. The closet where Liao was confined was also re-carpeted, according to court documents.

Liao’s body was eventually disposed of in Mojave, California. His skeletal remains were eventually discovered by a hiker June 12, 2019 in the area of Cache Creek Road and Highway 58. The manner of death is undetermined, according to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office - Coroner Section.

Shen and Yang, who previously resided in West Covina, were both arrested in China, held on charges related to the kidnapping. 

Velez pleaded guilty in September 2019 to one count of conspiracy to kidnap. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, November 10.

The FBI conducted this investigation with help from the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, which includes the Pasadena Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Julia S. Choe and Frances S. Lewis, both of the General Crimes Section, prosecuted this case.