Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - The California Highway Patrol announced the arrest of a 32-year-old suspect, accusing him of attempted murder after an argument led to a shooting on a Foothill Transit bus Monday evening.

Juan Mario Trejo, a West Covina resident, was located in Los Angeles less than 20 hours after the incident occurred. He was taken into custody and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Inmate Reception Center in Los Angeles, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The victim struck by gunfire was taken to Los Angeles General Medical Center to be treated for injuries considered not life-threatening.

A reported argument between a suspect, another rider and the bus driver on a Foothill Transit Silver Streak bus broke out on the westbound I-10 Freeway east of Puente Avenue around 6 p.m. June 17. The suspect revealed a firearm and a physical altercation ensued. Several shots were fired, according to the CHP.

The double carriage bus on the Silver Streak line was transporting 17 other passengers when the shooting occurred, according to the CHP.

The driver stopped the bus on the I-10 freeway at Puente Avenue where the suspect exited and fled on foot.

The shooting was investigated by the California Highway Patrol Southern Division Major Crimes detectives in conjunction with the CHP Baldwin Park Office.

Trejo is scheduled for an appearance in West Covina Superior Court Thursday, June 20.

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The arrest record in this article is being redistributed by SGV CityWatch and is protected by constitutional, publishing and other legal rights. Arrest information is public record and was distributed by government sources. The person named in this article has only been arrested on suspicion of the crime(s) listed and is presumed innocent.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

REGION - Multiple private schools have been evacuated and have closed the rest of the day after an email threat was sent to the schools.

Damien High School in La Verne was evacuated and will remain closed Monday, according to the La Verne Police Department.

“Following further investigation, the threat appears to have come from overseas and has been deemed not credible by LVPD,” according to the La Verne Police Department.

Students at St. John the Baptist School in Baldwin similarly evacuated and closed Monday around 10:20 a.m. after a threat was received, according to a parent who received an email and voicemail to pick up their child.

“This morning a mass email was sent out to some Catholic and non-Catholic schools making a threat to school safety on this date. While there is no current evidence to suggest that this threat is credible, out of an abundance of caution, we decided to cancel classes for today,” according to an email sent by St. John the Baptist School.

Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School in Claremont and Bishop Amat High School also canceled classes for Monday and sent students home after receiving a similar thread.

Fox11 News reported that a Catholic School in Compton received a similar threat.

“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is aware of the online threats to schools in LA County. LA County Sheriff’s Stations will conduct patrol checks at local schools throughout the day. We will continue to monitor and provide future information as it becomes available,” according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

REGION - A pedestrian was struck and killed by a Metrolink train Monday morning.

Authorities were alerted to the collision just before 11 a.m. Monday, May 1. The train struck the pedestrian between the Almonte and Baldwin Park stations, according to Jeanette Flores, assistant director of public affairs for Metrolink.

The train, which was headed to Union Station in Los Angeles, struck the pedestrian in City of Industry, Flores told SGV CityWatch.

Lines 321, 312 and 331 have been canceled, Flores told SGV CityWatch.

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

REGION - Two 500 kilovolt transmission lines in the Walnut area malfunctioned, causing 159,239 customers to lose power in the San Gabriel Valley early Sunday, a Southern California Edison spokesman said.

Some customers in Walnut, Covina, West Covina, La Puente, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, El Monte, the Whittier Narows area, Irwindale and Baldwin Park were affected by the outage that began at 6:47 a.m., according to Reggie Kumar, Southern California Edison spokesman.

Customers in Carson were affected as well.

Power was fully restored with the help of generators at 7:36 a.m., Kumar told SGV CityWatch.

“Those transmission lines actually feed all the way to Bakersfield, so it was a very large loss,” Kumar told SGV CityWatch.

The transmission lines are located in the City of Walnut.

The cause is under investigation and repair work continues, Kumar told SGV CityWatch.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOMITA - A 28-year-old suspect accused of gunning down a man in Baldwin Park was located and arrested June 25, authorities said Tuesday.

Anthony Angel Knight was tracked down to a park in Lomita and was nabbed in an undercover operation. The murder weapon was recovered later, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.

Knight is the alleged trigger man in a shotgun shooting in Baldwin Park June 14 that took the life of Brian Morales.

The 19-year-old victim was gunned down outside his Baldwin Park home in the 4000 block of Phelan Avenue around 3:13 a.m. He died at the scene.

Knight was booked on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $4.5 million bail. His arraignment has been postponed to an unknown date at Pomona Superior Court.

LOS ANGELES - The California Highway Patrol arrested a carjacking and pursuit suspect after he fled across lanes of the 110 freeway south of the 91 freeway Tuesday.

A victim called El Monte Police around 11:42 p.m. July 9 to report being carjacked on the I-10 freeway east of the 605 in Baldwin Park. El Monte officers located the vehicle, the driver refused to stop and fled south on the 605 freeway, according to Lt. Michael Buckhannon of the El Monte Police Department.

The pursuit was turned over to the CHP.

Officers from a handful of CHP stations chased the suspect as he drove through area freeways.

REGION - The suspect accused of gunning down his own brother in Baldwin Park June 30 remains at large Monday.

Gregory Thomas Kingsbury, 37, allegedly shot and killed his as-of-yet unidentified brother in the 14600 block of Demblon Street in Baldwin Park Friday. Kingsbury is known to frequent the Baldwin Park, West Covina and Monrovia areas, Homicide detectives said.

He fled in a charcoal grey 2012 Nissan Altima, which was recovered, Homicide detectives said.

LOS ANGELES - A 55-year-old man was identified as the pedestrian killed by a Metrolink train June 13.

Albert Mercado died from traumatic injuries in the crash. The manner of death was ruled a suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

The collision occurred around 8:52 p.m. at East Ramona Boulevard and Downing Avenue. The pedestrian, later identified as Mercado, was declared dead at the scene, according to Dispatch Supervisor Martin Rangel of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The pedestrian was described as a trespasser on the tracks, according to information published by Metrolink.

The train was westbound to Union Station.

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Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

REGION - Sheriff’s deputies arrested a man January 18 after he allegedly robbed five 7-Eleven convenience stores across the San Gabriel Valley.

Julian Larsuel, 19, was arrested early Friday morning after a deputy anticipated his next target, a 7-Eleven in Hacienda Heights. Larsuel is accused of robbing at gunpoint stores in Baldwin Park, West Covina, Covina, City of Industry and La Puente, authorities said.

Larsuel allegedly robbed a Covina 7-Eleven, 105 N. Vincent Ave., at 1:10 a.m., where he stole several hundred dollars.