Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A driver suffered from some scrapes after the vehicle they were driving plummeted over Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road Saturday. A passerby did not witness the crash, but heard it occur before 9:30 p.m. Ground crews and a helicopter arrived to the scene and the latter discovered the crashed vehicle, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
A paramedic was lowered to the victim to assess injuries. The driver was airlifted to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, a level-one trauma center, due to the distance the vehicle plummeted. The distance the vehicle fell was not disclosed. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - A preliminary magnitude 7.1 earthquake has rocked SoCal, centered nearly 11 miles north northeast of Ridgecrest, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake hit relatively close to where a magnitude 6.4 quake hit in Inyo County. Dr. Lucy Jones of Caltech said the 6.4 quake from July was a foreshock to today's temblor. "This was a M7.1 on the same fault as has been producing the Searles Valley sequence. This is part of the same sequence," Jones said via social media. SoCal law enforcement and fire agencies are performing critical facilities checks throughout their cities to ensure no damage has occurred. The quake received a preliminary 7.1. magnitude initially and was downgraded to a 6.9 before being upgraded to a 7.1. This story will be updated as information becomes available. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - A preliminary magnitude 6.4 earthquake has struck Southern California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake struck about 10 miles east of Ridgecrest at a depth of about 2.5 miles, according to the USGS. There have been no reports of damage or injuries locally. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A vehicle fire has spread to nearly five acres of brush near Highway 39 and East Fork Road. The fire has burned about three-quarters of an acre. The U.S. Forest Service has called for two firefighting helicopters to assist with a ground effort to knock down the flames, according to U.S. Forest Service radio traffic. The fire was reported by a motorist around 10:45 a.m. Authorities were contemplating shutting down traffic along Highway 39 and a possible evacuation of Coldbrook Campground. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - Deputies are investigating a dead body discovered near Earl Canyon Motorway and Mt. Lukens Truck Trail Sunday afternoon. Firefighters were dispatched just after 5 p.m. June 23 to a reported medical rescue. A rescue helicopter arrived on scene and medics declared the victim dead on arrival, according to Dispatch Supervisor Michael Pittman of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. The helicopter left the area around 8:30 p.m., Pittman said. Coroner investigators retrieved a female from the mountains above the Crescenta Valley area, according to Kristy McCracken, investigator with the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. There was a mixup regarding details on the discovery of a body Sunday in an earlier version of the story. Originally, Lt. Mark Lopez of the Crescenta Valley Sheriff's Station provided details regarding the discovery of a body in the mountains. But upon a secondary interview, Lopez said he only knew of a body found at Upper Big Tujunga and Colby Ranch Road.
Lopez knew nothing of a female declared dead above the La Crescenta area, even though the body was in the Crescenta Valley Station jurisdiction. Around 4 p.m., the body of a man was discovered near Upper Big Tujunga and Colby Ranch Road in the Hidden Springs area. The body may have been in the mountains for a long duration, Lopez said. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Two counts each of murder, second-degree robbery and one count of attempted murder have been filed against the 30-year-old man who went on a crime spree that left two people dead. Rhett McKenzie Nelson of St. George, Utah is scheduled for arraignment in the Foltz Criminal Justice Center Thursday. the charges include special allegations of multiple murders and murder by means of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle and allegations of using a handgun in the commission of crimes, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Nelson is being held without bail. Those killed in Nelson’s crime spree are Dmitry Koltsov, shot dead in Central Los Angeles June 10 and Joseph Gilbert Solano, a 13-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The latter was shot inside an Alhambra Jack In the Box about an hour after the Los Angeles murder.
“Hours after shooting Solano, the defendant committed two robberies in Long Beach, one at a Shell gas station and the other at a 7-Eleven,” Santiago said. If convicted as charged, Nelson faces life in prison without the possibility of parole. A decision on the possibility of capital punishment will be determined at a later date, Santiago said. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor EL MONTE - Police and Sheriff’s deputies have a pursuit suspect surrounded in a mobile home park as the driver refuses to stop. The driver behind a reported stolen vehicle from West Covina is circling the roads in the Brookside Country Club, 12700 Elliot Ave. All entrances and exits into the mobile home park are covered, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic. A deputy with the Sheriff’s Temple Station began pursuing the suspect in the El Monte area just after 9 p.m. after the deputy discovered the license plate belonged to a stolen vehicle.
The driver fled the deputy through El Monte streets into the Brookside Country Club where El Monte officers took over the pursuit. No officers are chasing the suspect at this time as they hold the entrances and exits, likely hoping the suspect surrenders willingly. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Authorities announced the 13-year veteran of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shot inside an Alhambra restaurant died Wednesday afternoon. Joseph Gilbert Solano, 50, passed away from injuries sustained in the June 10 shooting. A suspect, later identified as Utah man Rhett Nelson, was arrested and has yet to be charged. Solano was clinging to life since the shooting and was finally taken off life support Wednesday. He was waiting for an order at Jack In the Box, 2531 W. Valley Blvd., Monday after taking his mother’s vehicle to be serviced at a nearby Jiffy Lube when he was attacked.
Solano joined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 1999. He worked in the Court Services division for a year until switching careers as a firefighter with the City of Alhambra. He left the Alhambra Fire Department in 2001, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Alex Villanueva. Solano rejoined the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in 2006. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A person has been detained and apparently matches the description of the suspect responsible for shooting and critically wounding an off-duty Sheriff’s deputy. At 10:40 a.m. Tuesday, Long Beach Police stopped and detained the driver. The man detained in Long Beach is being called a person of interest, according to a statement issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The person of interest was detained in the 2400 block of Granada Avenue in Long Beach.
NBC4 news reported earlier today that the person of interest was detained after a brief police pursuit. No other details are available. Email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A rescue team is recovering a dead body discovered far below Angeles Crest Highway Monday afternoon. The body was found in the area of Angeles Forest Highway near mile marker 18.87. Los Angeles County firefighters and the U.S. Forest Service were called to the area around 4:47 p.m. A hiker or passerby discovered the body and called the U.S. Forest Service who then called deputies, according to Lt. Smeltzer of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Crescenta Valley Station.
The body is approximately 400 feet over the side and the Montrose Search and Rescue team is working to get the body topside, Smeltzer said. Investigators with the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau are en route to the crime scene. The age and gender of the victim are not immediately known, Smeltzer said. Get the email Newsletter! | Advertise! | Donate! |
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