Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Coroner investigators determined how a man died after his body was discovered when firefighters extinguished an apartment fire in Azusa. Angelito Panganiban, 63, died from inhalation of products of combustion. His death was ruled as accidental, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. His son, Alberto Panganiban, 26, died from the exact same cause and in the same manner in the October 24, 2019 fire. The fire burned in a two-story apartment complex in the 800 block of W. 13th St. Firefighters were dispatched at 9:12 p.m., extinguished the flames at 9:46 p.m., according to Dispatch Supervisor Martin Rangel of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
One other person was hospitalized with unspecified injuries. An adjacent unit received smoke damage and the occupants were displaced, according to Los Angeles County Firefighters on scene. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The suspect who pleaded guilty to his part in a drug trafficking conspiracy and to money laundering was sentenced to a mere 63 months in prison. Mexican national Edgar Limon, 39, was also ordered to pay a $17,500 fine for his involvement in an international narcotics network that transported 21 pounds of pure methamphetamine across the border with Mexico on behalf of a group linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Limon, the last of 22 suspects named in a 19-count indictment, pleaded guilty July 17, 2019. He is one of nine that were taken into custody pursuant to the unsealed 2017 indictment and the last of those to be sentenced. The other eight received 135-month sentences. Five other suspects, including Limon’s brother and lead suspect Jeuri Limon Elenes, remain fugitives and may be hiding in Mexico, the DOJ said. The case was the result of a two-year wiretap investigation by the Los Angeles Strike Force, comprised of members from the FBI, DEA, IRS Criminal Investigations, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshal Service and the Azusa Police Department.
The scheme involved the import of hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin into the U.S. The drugs were distributed through a network of Sinaloa Cartel associates. The domestic revenue was funneled back to Mexico, the DOJ said. The drugs were stored in stash houses across the San Gabriel Valley. Limon was in charge of one of those locations. From June 2014 to April 2016, Limon and his fellow traffickers had an agreement to distribute and process with intent to distribute, methamphetamine in the LA area. Two of these stash houses where Limon hid drugs were in El Monte and Azusa. The latter served as a distribution point for methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, the DOJ said. The Los Angeles Strike Force seized 290 pounds of methamphetamine, 280 pounds of cocaine, 30 pounds of heroin, and 81 pounds of marijuana — a $6 million street value, the DOJ said. Limon and his fellow traffickers also conducted financial transactions in ways that concealed their illegal origins in drug trafficking, the DOJ said. Limon’s mother and cousin were charged and sentenced to 87 months in federal prison. The Los Angeles Strike Force was formed in 2014 to combat the use of the Los Angeles metro area as a hub for drug distribution across the US by Mexican cartels. The Strike Force seeks to target high-level traffickers, disrupt and dismantle drug distribution networks and money laundering activities and arrest and prosecute cartel leaders and operatives, the DOJ said.
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.” Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Coroner investigators revealed what killed a newborn girl found in an Azusa apartment dumpster last March. Amira Bello-Pacheco died from intrauterine fetal demise. Her death was ruled accidental, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. Azusa Police responded to a 9-1-1 call March 7, 2019 at 3:43 p.m. and found a lifeless newborn in a dumpster to the very rear of an apartment complex in the 600 block of East Fifth Street. Firefighters and policer attempted to revive the child. The newborn was taken to Queen of the Valley Hospital in West Covina and was declared dead by doctors at 4:37 p.m. According to NBC4 news, a resident witnessed the mother walking away from the dumpster, a trash can in hand and a large amount of blood nearby.
Many intrauterine fetal deaths, otherwise known as stillbirth, have no known cause. It is not immediately clear if a coroner examination determined the stillbirth’s cause. The Azusa Police Department’s case will proceed in the appropriate direction with the coroner determining the cause of death, according to Sgt. Jorge Sandoval of the Azusa Police Department Detective Bureau in a previous interview.. “We’re obviously looking at various options before we proceed one way or the other,” Sandoval said in a March 2019 interview with SGV CityWatch. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The suspect whom prosecutors allege stabbed and killed a rider on the Gold Line as it left the Azusa downtown station towards Irwindale pleaded guilty to the crime. 52-year-old Peter Muñoz of Commerce pleaded guilty January 8 to one felony count of first-degree murder in the death of Xuezhong Bao, 62. Muñoz was immediately sentenced to 26 years to life in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Muñoz also admitted to using a knife during the commission of the crime, prosecutors said. The stabbing occurred November 27, 2018 as the East Los Angeles-bound train left the Azusa Downtown Station towards Irwindale. Muñoz was arrested as he exited the train in Duarte, prosecutors said. Deputies with the Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau, which patrols Los Angeles County Metro lines and Metrolink, received a 9-1-1 transfer call from Irwindale Police at 11:30 a.m. initially describing an attack on either the platform or westbound train in Irwindale, according to Deputy Ramon Montenegro. The train continued westbound and stopped at the Duarte/City of Hope Station, where the suspect and victim were met by deputies.
A passenger, who wished to not be identified, was at the Duarte Station awaiting an eastbound train and witnessed riders fleeing from the passenger car where the victim lay lifeless, deputies taking the suspect into custody, a crime scene in progress. “[I] Was waiting for the train to go to citrus, the E/B train arrived people ran off when deputies got there the ones on the train pointed out the suspect. They arrested him,” said the passenger in a Facebook message to SGV CityWatch. “When fire got there, they started CPR for 15 min. Then stopped. The deputies put up crime tape so I left,” The passenger said. Bao died at the scene from a wound to the upper torso. The knife was recovered, deputies said. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A motorcyclist was pronounced dead after crashing on Highway 39 south of Crystal Lake. The crash was reported to the CHP around 10:29 a.m. December 15. A motorcyclist crashed near mile marker 33.80. A passerby reported the rider was not moving, according to California Highway Patrol traffic logs. Firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service performed CPR on the rider upon arrival to the scene.
Medics with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau arrived by helicopter and also treated the rider before pronouncing death, according to U.S. Forest Service radio traffic and the CHP. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The search continues Sunday morning for a missing father and his 12-and-13-year-old sons who failed to return from a day hike in the mountains above Azusa and the Glendora.
About 12 members of the San Dimas Mountain Rescue Team are being joined by the Montrose Search and Rescue Team and Santa Clarita Valley Search and Rescue Team area in hopes of finding the father and his children according to Lt. Ed Mackenzie of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station. Industry Sheriff’s Station deputies were called by a family member around 11 p.m. Saturday, November 23, when the father and his children failed to return from a hike. The father’s vehicle was found parked in the East Fork area of the San Gabriel Mountains. Searchers are concentrating in the Heaton Flats area by the Bridge to Nowhere, Mackenzie told SGV CityWatch. “It’s supposed to be a day hike. Apparently the father is an experienced hiker and is familiar with the area, according to family members,” Mackenzie said. In addition to the cold, searchers are wading through very thick, overgrown brush and rugged terrain, Mackenzie said. A Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter assistant early Sunday with a search at first light, but has since departed to refuel, according to Sheriff’s radio traffic. The Father and His Sons Were Missing Since Saturday. CLICK TO READ MORE Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS – A dead man was found with a single gunshot wound and seated in the passenger seat of a BMW on Highway 39 Friday morning. The body was found near East Fork Road on a turnout along mile marker 24.68. An employee with the U.S. Forest Service discovered the vehicle, according to Lt. Mark Skaggs of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s San Dimas Station. There wasn’t enough evidence yet to confirm how the man received the gunshot wound, Skaggs said.
Only one victim was found, according to a representative with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, which sent multiple units, including a battalion chief to the scene. Firefighters were ordered to stage and wait for deputies to clear them in to the scene. The exterior of the BMW showed damage from gunfire, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. The Sheriff’s Special Enforcement Bureau also responded to the scene. Sheriff’s Homicide detectives are investigating. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The cause of death for a 26-year-old man discovered in a burned apartment unit October 24 has been deferred, coroner officials said. Alberto Panganiban, an Azusa man, was identified by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, which issued the same deferred findings as with Alberto’s 63-year-old father, Angelito. Both men were discovered after a fire burned in their apartment unit at 877 W. Thirteenth St. The fire, dispatched to firefighters at 9:12 p.m., was extinguished at 9:46 p.m.
The fire’s cause has not been publicly shared. Additional investigation is needed to determine the death of both men, coroner officials stated. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A coroner investigator named a 63-year-old man found dead amongst the rubble of a burned apartment unit. Angelito Panganiban of Azusa was named by Investigator Kristy McCracken of the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. Panganiban’s cause of death was deferred, pending additional investigation, according to coroner exam records. Panganiban and his son were found after firefighters extinguished an apartment fire October 24 at 877 W. Thirteenth St. Firefighters were dispatched at 9:12 p.m. and extinguished the flames at 9:46 p.m.
The fire’s cause is either unknown or has not been publicly disclosed. |
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