Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - Parking capacity has been reached along the East Fork Road area in the San Gabriel Mountains above Azusa and drivers are being turned away Monday.

The US Forest Service announced the closure at 11:16 a.m. September 2.

The mouth of the canyon remains open and drivers will not encounter the closure until a few miles into the mountains. Traffic remains bumper-to-bumper along San Gabriel Canyon Road in both directions.

Authorities have had to deal with the downsides of increased capacity in the canyons recently, dealing with excessive amounts of trash not properly disposed of and vehicles illegally parking along the roadways.

Firefighters handled a roughly 3-acre brushfire sparked by a car fire along San Gabriel Canyon Road August 31.

The California Highway Patrol is handling the closure.

SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS - Crews continue to battle the Fork Fire burning well north of San Dimas and La Verne Saturday.

The fire has scorched 330 acres. The fire remains at zero percent containment, according to the US Forest Service.

East Fork Road is closed at Highway 39. Glendora Mountain Road is closed at Glendora Ridge Road. Glendora Mountain Road is closed at Big Dalton Canyon Road in Glendora. Authorities have also closed off Highway 39 at Old San Gabriel Canyon Road in Azusa.

The Fork Fire was first reported around 3:20 p.m. Friday, July 19 in the vicinity of the Bridge to Nowhere near Camp Bonita Prairie Forks Road.

The fire is burning chaparral in steep terrain in a north east direction towards the Sheep Mountain Wilderness area. Recreationists were evacuated shortly after the fire started. Residents have not been evacuated, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

More than 350 personnel are working to extinguish the fire, personnel from the Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Ventura County Fire Department, CalFire, the California Highway Patrol and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

SAN GABRIEL MOUNTAINS - A brushfire that ignited above Azusa was aggressively and quickly extinguished Sunday afternoon.

The Burro Incident, named due to its proximity to the Burro Canyon Shooting Park, was held to less than 5 acres. Firefighters were dispatched around 2:16 p.m. Sunday, June 16, according to the US Forest Service.

Burro Canyon is northeast of San Gabriel Canyon Road and East Fork Road.

Crews on the ground and in the air from the US Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Fire Department worked to keep the fire from spreading.

It is not immediately clear if firefighters have determined a cause.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

SANTA ANA - A certified nursing assistant was sentenced to life in prison January 13 for committing sex acts on several severely disabled children while filming them.

Steve Jackson Rodriguez, 38, a Pomona resident, previously pleaded guilty September 2022 to two counts of obtaining custody of a minor for purposes of producing child pornography, five counts of production of child pornography and one count of enticement of a minor to engage in criminal sexual activity, according to the Justice Department.

Rodriguez was arrested August 21, 2021.

Rodriguez committed what US District Judge John Holcomb called “unspeakable acts” from January 2016 to May 2020, producing images and videos with four children at an Inland Empire group home where he was employed at the time. Three of the children are severely disabled, according to the Justice Department.

One of his victims was just 6 years old when he started the abuse. He began recording the acts two years later.

A restitution hearing is scheduled for March 10.

Rodriguez sent the explicit images and video to two of his co-workers. In a separate trial, Azusa man Cyr Dino Banguguilan, 36, and 23-year-old Baldwin Park man Miguel Bocardo were found guilty of one count each of receipt of child pornography and possession of child pornography, according to the Justice Departmentl

Both co-workers are scheduled for a February 24 sentencing and face anywhere from five to 20 years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department.

The investigation was spearheaded by the Homeland Security Investigations as part of the Los Angeles Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force.

Assisting were the United States Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Baldwin Park Police Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles Police Department, Pomona Police Department and Burbank Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Scott M. Lara and Catharine A. Richmond of the Violent and Organized Crime Section are prosecuting this case.

​Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

BALDWIN PARK – California Highway Patrol investigators served search warrants on multiple social media sites, which opened a virtual treasure trove into prosecuting participants of a dangerous “sideshow” event in the San Gabriel Mountains.
 
Investigators ultimately recommended 77 felony and misdemeanor charges against numerous suspects, including organizers, drivers, photographers and spectators. Arrest warrants were filed against them, according to the CHP Baldwin Park Office.
 
The “sideshow” event took place in mid-2021 in the mountains above Azusa. Investigators pored over 19,000 pages of conversations for 11 months after serving five search warrants on various social media sites, according to the CHP.
 
“Sideshow activities are dangerous, illegal, and will not be tolerated! Instead of risking it all by participating in illegal activities, make the safer choice and visit a local race track,” the CHP said in a written statement.

LOS ANGELES - A 74-year-old cyclist died of natural causes while riding a bicycle on Highway 39 above Azusa July 28.

Initially, the California Highway Patrol reported a collision with a vehicle resulted in the death of Stephen Naftilan. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner revealed he died from acute cardian dysfunction.

Naftilan crashed while cycling at 10 a.m. at mile marker 24.10.

In a follow-up inquiry, Rodrigo Jimenez of the CHP Baldwin Park Office reported Naftilan "was unable to keep his bicycle upright and the right side of Mr. Doe's bicycle crashed into the asphalt roadway. A passerby and another bicyclist who observed the crash, responded to Mr. Doe and observed he was unresponsive."

CPR was administered until Los Angeles County Firefighters arrived. CPR was continued until Naftilan was pronounced dead at 10:52 a.m.

Highway 39 from East Fork Road to Roxspring Way was closed until 5:43 p.m. for the investigation. Alcohol and drugs are not considered factors in Naftilan's death, Jimenez said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS - A bicyclist reportedly died in a collision on Highway 39 in the Azusa foothills Thursday morning.

Los Angeles County fire fighters and the California Highway Patrol were called to Highway 39 south of East Fork Road around 10:16 a.m. July 28.

Few details are available at the time this post was launched.

It is unclear how many bicyclists or vehicles were involved, according to Officer Kendricks of the California Highway Patrol.

Firefighters arrived on scene and met with someone who was performing CPR on an injured person, according to California Highway Patrol traffic logs.

Northbound and southbound lanes of Highway 39 between rocks Springs Way in Azusa to East Fork Road are closed for at least three more hours for an investigation, the CHP said.

MOUNTAINS – A 69-year-old man reported missing by the Chino Police Department April 13 was found dead in a crashed vehicle one day later.

Michael Bell died from traumatic blunt force to the head and suffered neck trauma. His death was ruled accidental, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

Bell was last seen in Ontario driving a white Acura MDX. Authorities tracked his cell phone, which last gave a location somewhere north of Azusa along Highway 39, according to the Chino Police Department.

April 14, firefighters and the California Highway Patrol were called by a passerby around 12:45 p.m. to a vehicle discovered over the side of Highway 39 south of Robbs Gulch near mile marker 23.20. Bell died at the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bell was driving north on Highway 39 at an unknown speed. For undetermined reasons, Bell’s Acura veered off the roadway and crashed down an dirt and rock embankment, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Bell suffered from undisclosed medical issues and may have been disoriented, according to the Chino Police Department.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

UPDATE, 9:28 p.m.: All six aboard the crashed Sheriff’s helicopter are in stable condition, authorities said Saturday night.

Aerial footage from a broadcast news helicopter showed three crew members walking into Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center after being taken by a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter.

Aboard the copter were two pilots, three medics and a doctor from UCLA.

MOUNTAINS - A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s helicopter crashed in the San Gabriel Mountains injuring the crew aboard Saturday afternoon.

The crashed helicopter still poses a fire risk and firefighters have asked all other personnel near the copter to get back, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic.

The helicopter crashed near Highway 39 and East Fork Road.

All five crew members were extricated from the crashed helicopter. There was one critical patient, Two with moderate injuries and two with minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Firefighters were dispatched to the crash around 4:26 p.m.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

MOUNTAINS – Roughly three acres of brush burned in the mountains above Glendora just south of the San Gabriel Reservoir April 28.

The U.S. Forest Service, aided by Los Angeles County Firefighters, extinguished the baby blaze along San Gabriel Canyon Road near mile marker 21.67. County firefighters were dispatched around 11:19 p.m.

The fire slowly crept downhill as crews from the ground and from the air worked to douse it.

No structures were threatened. The cause is under investigation.