Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - Officials named the construction worker killed after being crushed under the forklift he was ejected from in an accident July 20.
Jordan Hoyt, 20, was the worker hilled near a Pomona hillside at Kellogg Drive and the eastbound 10 freeway last Friday, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. The crash occurred around 9:35 p.m. Hoyt and fellow construction workers were part of a project to add carpool lanes to the I-10 freeway between the 605 and 57 freeways, according to Officer Rodrigo Jimenez of the California Highway Patrol. Hoyt was behind the wheel of a telescopic forklift, travelling east on a dirt road when for unknown reasons, the forklift fell down the hillside. Hoyt was ejected and the forklift fell on him, Jimenez said. A second man was reportedly injured. Kellogg Drive was shut down until about 4:20 p.m. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - The coroner will determine if the man who stabbed to death a Cal Poly Pomona public safety specialist last month had anything in his system when the killing occurred.
A motive is still unknown after 27-year-old Rodney Lee Hunter reportedly committed the brutal stabbing of Mark Manlapaz, a 17-year-veteran of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona June 29, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau. The autopsy on Hunter was performed July 9. Hunter was identified by Homicide detectives as a Cal Poly Pomona custodian. How long Hunter worked for the campus is not immediately known. Manlapaz, 37, served the campus as a public safer specialist. He was parked at university property known as Campus South, 3530 Pomona Blvd., when he was approached by Hunter, who stabbed him to death. Manlapaz died in his university-issued truck. Witnesses helped authorities locate Hunter about a half mile from the scene of the stabbing, near the John T. Lyle Center For Regenerative Studies. One of the witnesses who apparently knew Hunter told detectives that he appeared “out of it,” according to Sheriff's Homicide Lt. John Corina. Hunter fought with the witness when approached. A Pomona Police officer and a Cal Poly Police officer both opened fire on Hunter, but the interaction that led to the officer-involved shooting remains undisclosed. The knife thought to be used in the stabbing was recovered near the victim’s truck. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION - A massive operation involving more than 500 law enforcement agencies helped to arrest nearly three dozen suspects involved with drug smuggling, extortion money laundering and more, authorities said.
83 people are named in two federal racketeering indictments unsealed Wednesday. Operation Dirty Thirds focused on the Mexican Mafia, which orchestrated the control of drug smuggling, narcotics sales and prisoner extortion in the Los Angeles County jail system, the Department of Justice announced. Pomona-area street gangs were also named in one of the indictments. Of those named, 35 are currently incarcerated in state prison or county jails. 16 suspects are fugitives authorities hope will be arrested in the near future, the DOJ said. Authorities allege a “criminal enterprise” led by the Mexican Mafia engaged in five large-scale activities:
The indictments allege efforts to violate Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations Act laws, the DOJ said. The indictments include a large amount of other charges, including carjacking; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana; distribution of and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances; money laundering; possession of at least 15 access devices (credit card numbers); aggravated identity theft; and use, possession or discharge of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence or drug trafficking crime. The FBI’s San Gabriel Valley Safe Streets Task Force, composed of FBI agents, Sheriff’s deputies, the Pomona Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, conducted a three-year investigation leading to today’s arrests and indictments. “Gang violence in the jails also spills over to the streets and adversely affects our communities,” said Paul Delacourt, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “This three-year investigation focused on players at all levels for their role in the conspiracy – from the shot-caller, to the secretary, to the dealer, to the smuggler. Today’s successful operation is a direct result of law enforcement partners working cooperatively at all levels of government.” The indictment focuses on a handful of key players who virtually operated what authorities called “an illegal government within LACJ custody facilities.” Mexican Mafia member Jose Landa-Rodriguez, 55, and two now dead LACJ inmates controlled the entire criminal enterprise within the confines of the jail system, the DOJ said, and exercised power with the help of “shot-callers” and other associates. Landa-Rodriguez allegedly sanctioned murders, a series of assaults, and the kidnapping and planned murder of the relative of a gang member who had defied him, the DOJ said. Luis Vega, 33, the second defendant in the indictment, allegedly ordered a murder and directed assaults against those who showed disrespect or failed to follow Mexican Mafia rules, the DOJ said. Key facilitator and practicing attorney Gabriel Zendejas-Chavez was among those arrested Wednesday. Zendejas-Chavez allegedly travelled between state prisons and county jails, to convey messages to Mexican Mafia members, providing names of those cooperating with law enforcement investigations. Zendejas-Chavez, from the Ontario area, is also accused of a plot to extort $100,000 from the Mongols motorcycle gang, the DOJ said. “Operation Dirty Thirds lifts the veil on only one aspect of the complicated factors behind inmate-on-inmate assaults and the dangers to our custody staff,” said Sheriff Jim McDonnell. “Many assaults have been directed, and carried out, by the Mexican Mafia and are documented in this investigation that took more than four years.” The second RICO indictment focused on another criminal enterprise run by 61-year-old Michael Lerma, also known as “Pomona Mike,” a member of the Mexican Mafia who controlled and extorted drug proceeds from Pomona street gangs as well as from incarcerated Latinos in Calipatria State Prison in Imperial County. Lerma is accused of attempting to steal a Mercedes-Benz from another LACJ inmate. When the vehicle’s caretaker refused to give it up, the caretaker was shot by one of the defendants named in today’s indictment. In a second case, a woman was kidnapped by Lerma’s organization and was held for several days in exchange for extortion money. The woman was going to be murdered when law enforcement disrupted the plot, the DOJ said. “The Pomona community certainly suffered from the criminal acts of those indicted,” said Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri. “I am very pleased with the success of this long-term investigation, and I am looking forward to more collaboration with our law enforcement partners in future investigations.” If convicted, most of the defendants could be sentenced to decades in federal prison, and some could face life without parole, the DOJ said. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION - A multi-agency operation is underway, targeting the Mexican Mafia’s influence across Los Angeles County jails and inside Pomona street gangs.
Operation Dirty Thirds is born of federal racketeering indictments against the Mexican Mafia, authorities announced Wednesday. Arrests have been made and search warrants served during the operation. Authorities have a command post established during their execution of Operation Dirty Thirds inside Whittier Narrows Recreational Area in South El Monte. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, DEA, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell and Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri will provide more details in a press conference, scheduled for later Wednesday. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION - 6.5 miles of road will close for at least seven hours April 22 for the CicLAvia Heart of the Foothills event.
A brand new route for the CicLAvia event will kick off the event from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. to celebrate Earth Day, organizers said. Billed as the country’s biggest open streets event, CicLAvia promotes active transportation and good health by organizing car-free streets for people to walk, bike ride, or skate through asphalt streets. CicLAvia is inspired from Bogotá, Columbia’s Cicloviá events. The event will begin at San Dimas Park and Ride, 205 S. San Dimas Ave., follow Bonita Avenue east, turn south on Fulton Road in Pomona, east on Arrow Highway into Claremont, north on South College Avenue and to the Claremont Metrolink Station. CicLAvia is free to attend. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor MONTCLAIR - The Pomona Police Major Crimes Task Force arrested a man in his Montclair home Wednesday, accusing him of dealing drugs and weapons to Pomona gang members.
Tom McGhuey, 59, was arrested at 12:05 a.m. at his home, 10660 Silicon Ave. in Montclair with the assistance of the Pomona SWAT team. The Pomona MCTF issued a search warrant for McGhuey after gathered intelligence fingered McGhuey as the narcotics and firearms dealer, Pomona Police. Confiscated were weapons, police described as “assault style rifles,” several rounds of high-caliber ammunition and 170 pounds of marijuana, Pomona Police said. McGhuey was booked on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition and possession of an unregistered firearm. McGhuey was booked at the West Valley Detention Center. Written by AARON CASTREJON | CityWatch Editor REGION – If you are thinking of drinking and getting behind the wheel, think again.
Law enforcement agencies across the San Gabriel Valley will be out in force, issuing DUI saturation patrols for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend. POMONA: The Pomona Police DUI Enforcement Team will deploy from Friday, March 16 at 5 p.m. to Saturday, March 17 at 3 a.m. Officers will focus on areas with high frequencies of DUI collisions and arrests. Police will also conduct a Know Your Limit operation on both days in Downtown Pomona and other areas of town from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. GLENDORA: DUI saturation patrols will take place Saturday, March 17. Officers will focus their patrols on drivers who exhibit alcohol and/or drug impairment. PASADENA: Pasadena officers will also conduct DUI saturation patrols from 6 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday. MONTEBELLO: Additional officers will be deployed from 7 p.m., March 16 to 3 a.m., March 17. In addition to these patrols, all other police, Sheriff’s stations and the California Highway Patrol will be on heightened alert, looking for DUI drivers. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 252 people lost their lives in drunk driving-related crashes during the St. Patrick’s Day holiday period from 2011-2015. More than a fourth of them were killed in drunk driving crashes that occurred in the early morning, post-party hours (midnight to 5:59 a.m.), Glendora Police said. These DUI patrols are This enforcement effort is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. |
Archives
January 2024
Categories
All
|