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

REGION - San Bernardino County Sheriff’s detectives took three people into custody in the San Gabriel Valley May 30, accusing them of being involved in a home invasion robbery and assault in Bloomington.

Two simultaneous search warrants were executed, resulting in the arrest of suspects Marcos Guerrero and Cynthia Leal at an apartment complex in Glendora. One other suspect, Elijah Gafare, was arrested in West Covina, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Two residents in the 18000 block of Valley Boulevard in Bloomington were awaken at 3 a.m. at gunpoint by three suspects March 12. A man was pistol-whipped, while a woman was allegedly held against her will, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

The three suspects made off with about $12,500, the video surveillance hard drive and the victims’ vehicle. The male victim was able to call for help.

The search warrants were served around 11:45 a.m. May 30.

Guerrero, a 48-year-old Glendora resident, and Leal, a 38-year-old Ontario resident, were arrested in the 1000 block of East Foothill Boulevard in Glendora. Gafare, a 35-year-old West Covina resident, was arrested in the 700 block of South Manzanita Drive in West Covina.

All three suspects were transported to and booked at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

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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 - Beginning this afternoon, continuing work on the L Line Foothill Extension will sporadically impact traffic, authorities said.

A rail delivery train will deliver 1600-foot segments of rail sticks at various points along the L Line route from Glendora to Pomona, according to the Foothill Gold Line Construction Authority.

The deliveries are expected to take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and are scheduled to last through Saturday, August 28.

At-grade crossings will be affected multiple times. Crossing gates will be functional and may impact traffic for up to five minutes at a time while rail sticks are off-loaded, the construction authority said.

In August, the construction authority announced the$1.5 billion, 9.1-mile project to Pomona was 36 percent complete. Construction on this segment from Glendora to Pomona began July 2020.

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.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - Investigators believe the man who robbed a Glendora Chase Bank January 8 is the same man who robbed a bank in Victorville November 24.

Investigators have dubbed the suspect as the “Cartel Bandit.” In one or both bank robberies, the suspect passed a note to a bank teller. In the note, the suspect demanded cash and detailed how the Mexican cartel would exact revenge if police are called.

The Glendora robbery occurred at the Chase Bank, 1905 E. Route 66. Police responded to the bank at 4:30 p.m., according to Lt. Marty Barrett of the Glendora Police Department.

In the Glendora robbery a gun was threatened, according to Laura Eimiller from FBI Media Relations. She noted that no weapon was actually seen.

It was not specified if the suspect fled with any money. The suspect is still at-large.

Anyone with information on the robbery suspect is urged to call the FBI at 310-477-6565.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

REGION - Fire authorities are confident the remaining hotspots on the Bobcat Fire will be extinguished as forecasted rain is expected to hit the region Saturday and Sunday.

Firefighters achieved 98 percent containment recently on the Bobcat Fire, Which incinerated nearly 115,800 acres, destroyed 87 homes, damaged 28, as well as either damaging or destroying 102 other structures, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

There is a slight chance that rain will move in by late Friday. The chances for rain will increase by about 4 a.m. Saturday and an 80 percent chance of precipitation will likely carry into Saturday evening, according to the the National Weather Service.

For Sunday, showers will be likely, mainly between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

The rains will also likely prevent dirt and ash from spreading across and blanketing the region, the US forest service said.

When last updated October 17, fire authorities said what remained of the bobcat fire was smoldering and creeping where heat exists within containment lines in the existing footprint.

The U.S. Forest Service announced a temporary closure of Crystal Lake Campground ground November 5 due to ongoing cleanup efforts for the bobcat fire and for impending inclement weather. The closure will remain until further notice.

Large portions of Angeles Crest Highway remain closed for emergency repair work due to the Bobcat Fire. Angeles Crest is closed 500 feet east of Mt. Wilson/Redbox Road to Upper Big Tujunga Canyon Road and 3.3 miles east of Newcomb’s Ranch Road to Islip Saddle.

Chantry Flats Truck Trail above Sierra Madre is unstable and dangerous for travel. It also remains closed for repair work, the U.S. Forest Service said.

The Bobcat Fire began burning on Sunday, September 6. In the hours and days since it ignited, it rapidly grew in size and at times outpaced containment efforts set forth by firefighters.

The Bobcat Fire encased the Southland in a filthy orange glow, at times rained copious amounts of ash as if it were a winter snowstorm.

Flames enveloped the mountainside moving at first northeast from Cogswell Dam where it ignited over the San Gabriel Mountains and into Kern County where most of the destruction was seen.

Through the persistent work of firefighters on the ground and in the air, Mount Wilson Observatory was saved from destruction after flames repeatedly Insta too close for comfort to the historic site.

Sturtevant Camp, East of the Mount Wilson Observatory, was also saved.

The fire may have ignited do to brush potentially coming into contact with an overhead Conductor, according to southern California Edison in a letter addressed to the California Public Utilities Commission.

REGION – The suspect accused of stabbing an Uber driver and holding law enforcement at bay into the nighttime hours appeared in court February 20.
 
Ricky Andrew Alvarez, 23, pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of assault with a deadly weapon (knife), assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury; and assault with a deadly weapon by means likely to produce great bodily injury on transportation personnel or passenger, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Public Information Officer Ricardo Santiago.
 
The allegation includes that Alvarez inflicted great bodily injury upon the victim.
 
Alvarez allegedly stabbed an Uber driver multiple times February 17 just before 1 p.m. Witnesses helped Glendora Police locate Alvarez, who fled into a room at the Glendora Motel, 330 W. Route 66, where five other people associated with him were staying.
 
The Uber driver was treated on scene by paramedics and was taken to a hospital in stable condition, according to the Glendora Police Department.
 
The regional Foothills Special Enforcement Team, a SWAT team made of officers from nearby police departments, responded to assist in apprehending the people barricaded inside one of the hotel rooms.

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

MOUNTAINS - A one-quarter-acre brush fire is burning in the mountains north of Glendora.

The fire was reported just after 2 p.m. along Highway 39 near mile marker 29.36, just north of the Bichota Canyon Trail.

The U.S. Forest Service is sending a full brush fire response.

The fire is burning in light to medium brush.

It is unclear how the fire ignite, but within the last hour, firefighters responded to two calls of a vehicle that crashed in the nearby vicinity. A vehicle crashed around 1:22 p.m. near Crustal Lake Road.

REGION - Detectives investigating the assault and disappearance of a Monrovia woman pieced together the suspect’s movements in the hours since her July 29 disappearance.

Amanda Kathleen Custer, 31, was seen by witnesses as her reportedly lifeless body was placed into the rear hatch of a grey Prius, allegedly at the hands of Robert Anthony Camou, 27.

Before Camou was seen in Claremont northbound towards the San Gabriel Mountains, he stopped at Del Taco, 1834 E. Route 66, in Glendora at 8:32 a.m. Five minutes later, Camou bought cigarettes from a Shell Gas Station, 1860 E. Route 66, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau.

Camou was tracked by the ankle monitor he was required to wear as part of a domestic violence case involving Custer.

The Prius headed east through Claremont at 8:56 a.m. through Baseline Road and Padua Avenue.