Written by AARON CASTREJON
CityWatch Editor

INDUSTRY - An LAPD motor officer was involved in a crash on the northbound 605 freeway near the I-10 freeway Friday morning.

All lanes of a northbound, 605 freeway just south of the I-10 were temporarily stopped to wrap up the scene and tow the motorcycle, according to the California Highway Patrol Traffic Management Center.

Traffic was flowing once again at 5:53 a.m., according to the CHP.

The extent of injuries to the motorcycle officer are not immediately clear, although a Los Angeles County Fire Department squad is on scene for transport.

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.

REGION - Two charges were filed Monday against the man authorities accuse of leading them on a reckless chase in a hearse with a dead body inside.

James Juarez, 25, was charged with one count each of fleeing a pursuing peace officer’s motor vehicle while driving recklessly and driving or taking a vehicle without consent, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Juarez faces a possible maximum of more than three years in state prison if convicted as charged, Santiago said.

A black 2017 Lincoln Navigator was stolen outside St. Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, 778 S. Rosemead Blvd., February 26. The driver arrived to take one body into the church and left the SUV running, authorities said.

REGION - A 25-year-old grand theft auto suspect was arrested Thursday after crashing a hearse with a dead woman inside.

James Juarez was taken into custody after fleeing Los Angeles Police officers on surface streets and to the southbound 110 freeway where he crashed the SUV at Vernon Avenue around 7:50 a.m. February 27. The body was still in the rear of the SUV inside a casket, authorities said.

Written by AARON CASTREJON
​CityWatch Editor

LOS ANGELES - Sheriff’s deputies, Los Angeles Police and crisis negotiators are attempting to have an accused domestic violence and kidnapping suspect peacefully surrender from inside his Prius.

The grey Prius used in the July 29 kidnapping is parked at South Hill Street and West Second Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It was found parked with a sleeping suspect inside since 2:45 a.m., authorities said.

27-year-old Robert Anthony Camou is believed to be barricaded within.

“Officers attempted to make contact with the suspect, however he refused to exit the vehicle. Due to the nature of the crimes the suspect is wanted for, LAPD SWAT resources have been deployed to the scene,” according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

The LAPD has hard closures along 1st Street, 2nd Street, 3rd Street and Broadway.

​Camou is Accused of injuring and kidnapping 31-year-old Amanda Custer.

Monrovia Police we’re called to the 600 block of Vaquero Drive around 8:15 a.m. Monday and found blood at the scene. Authorities believe a domestic violence incident occurred, but do not yet know whose blood was found.

Camou and Custer are or were dating and have a history of domestic violence.

Custer was reportedly seen being placed into the rear hatch of the grey Prius. It is unclear if she is in tthe barricaded Prius.

LOS ANGELES - The suspect behind the shooting of an off-duty Sheriff’s deputy in Alhambra was identified as a missing Utah man.

Rhett McKenzie Nelson, 30, from St. George, Utah, was detained by Long Beach Police, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva.

Nelson apparently went missing in Utah May 27 and disappeared in a white 2012 Kia Sorento with only his cellphone. He has a history of opiate abuse, according to a man identifying himself as Rhett’s father, Bradley.

Nelson was taken into custody by Sheriff’s deputies at 1 p.m. Tuesday.

“Shortly after 10 a.m., the suspect went into a church in the city of Long Beach on Clark Avenue. From that church, he called his father in St. George, Utah. During that call, he referred to committing murder in Southern California,” according to Kent Wegener of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The father then called Long Beach Police and after triangulating Nelson’s location through a cellphone number provided by the father, officers found nelson driving away from the church, Wegener said.

LOS ANGELES - Police continue to search for the suspect who stabbed two people -- both ended up in the San Gabriel Valley Sunday night.

The victims were apparently stabbed in Boyle Heights at Soto Street and Wabash Avenue around 8:15 p.m. April 7 by a Hispanic man. Both victims are in stable condition, according to Sal Ramirez, Los Angeles Police Department public information officer. 

REGION - Two women of accused of robbery and taking a Honda Pilot are bering chased by the CHP and Los Angeles Police officers.

The chase is east on the 60 freeway. The Honda Pilot is stopped on the Euclid off ramp and the suspects refuse to comply with commands to surrender, according to the California Highway Patrol. One of the suspects is armed with a knife, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

No further information is available.

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles Police announced the husband of a woman found murdered and stashed in a closet in their North Hollywood apartment was the bloodied man found near the 210 freeway in Azusa Saturday.

The unidentified husband is accused of stabbing to death 48-year-old Tanya Menchaca. Her body was discovered in their apartment in the 11300 block of Tiara Street by officers arriving to investigate an argument call just before 2 a.m.

Menchaca was identified by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner.

The husband was found hours later near the 210 freeway in Azusa.

Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor

UPDATE, 1:31 p.m. - ​The barricaded ended after Los Angeles Police Officers found the barricaded suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

LA CRESCENTA - Authorities are attempting to get a man barricaded inside a home to surrender.
 
The barricade continues in the 2400 block of Harmony Place and has been unfolding since around 7 a.m. TMZ.com is reporting the suspect is Jashua Corbett, the man sentenced to five years probation in the Sandra Bullock stalking case.
 
Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department were attempting to serve a warrant at the la Crescenta home.