 Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A Pomona man was arrested November 9 after fleeing police while driving a Humvee stolen from an Upland Army Reserve facility.
Armando Garcia, 29, a parolee convicted in 2019 in state court on theft and burglary charges, was named Friday in a criminal complaint filed in United States District Court. Garcia allegedly stole the semi-armored Humvee midday Monday before Pomona officers found the unlicensed vehicle, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Garcia was charged with theft of government property. Garcia refused to stop and led officers on a four-minute chase, driving at excessive speed, running red lights, stop signs, failing to signal for turns and driving in opposing lanes, according to the criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court. Garcia eventually stopped in a residential neighborhood on East Kingsley Avenue and was taken into custody. Inside the Humvee, valued at more than $200,000, was a large pair of bolt cutters and a cut army-approved padlock. The latter is fixed with a steel wire to prevent turning of the steering wheel, the criminal complaint stated. If convicted as charged, Garcia faces a possible statutory maximum of 10 years in federal prison.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor RIVERSIDE - A man was taken into custody in a residential area Sunday afternoon after leading the California Highway Patrol and Sheriff’s deputies on a chase that lasted more than three hours. The suspect is accused of taking a large white box truck in South El Monte just after 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 31. The keys were reportedly left in the ignition, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic. During the initial investigation, a deputy spotted the box truck in the area of Rush Street and Peck Road. The deputy followed the truck until backup arrived to perform a traffic stop, but the driver refused to yield and entered the eastbound I-10 freeway. The California Highway Patrol took over the pursuit on the eastbound I-10 freeway near via Verde in the San Dimas area. After transitioning to the eastbound 210 freeway, the suspect took the southbound 15 into Temecula before turning back northbound.
After exiting onto surface streets in Perris, the driver found his way to a dirt race track near the Perris State Recreational Area, entered the race track and drove around before trying to exit back from where he entered. CHP officers boxed in the driver who then drove around the track, busted his way through a fence and was able to exit out onto Ramona Expressway. Even with heavily damaged tires, the driver kept moving along surface streets before entering the westbound 60 freeway. The driver was finally taken into custody after Good Samaritans attempted to get the driver out of the stopped box truck at Columbia Avenue and Primer Street in Riverside.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor 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. The SUV was already gone when the driver exited the church. Itwas spotted near 23rd and Figueroa Streets around 7:30 a.m. in Los Angeles February 27. Juarez allegedly fled LAPD officers who attempted to stop him.
Juarez was taken into custody after fleeing Los Angeles Police officers on surface streets and to the southbound 110 freeway where he crashed at Vernon Avenue around 20 minutes later. The body was still in the rear of the SUV inside a casket, authorities said. Juarez crashed into another vehicle. The collision injured one other person and caused major front end damage to the stolen Lincoln Navigator hearse.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor 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. The SUV was spotted near 23rd and Figueroa Streets around 7:30 a.m. Juarez allegedly fled LAPD officers who attempted to stop him.
Juarez crashed into another vehicle. The collision injured one other person and caused major front end damage to the stolen Lincoln Navigator hearse. The SUV was stolen outside of Saint Anthony Greek Orthodox Church, 778 South Rosemead Blvd., around 7:45 PM February 26. The driver arrived to drop off one body at the church for a funeral and left the vehicle running. The SUV was gone when the driver exited the church, according to Deputy Tracy Koerner of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Information Bureau.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Several people in a reported stolen Toyota were taken into custody Tuesday after recklessly leading authorities across several cities, a Sheriff’s sergeant said. The pursuit was initiated by authorities with a multi-jurisdictional auto theft task force in the West Covina area September 17. The pursuit went as far south as the Pico Rivera border from the 605 freeway before deputies cancelled the chase due to unsafe speeds, according to Lt. Verlich of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station. Pico Rivera deputies first joined the pursuit at 3:35 p.m. It was unclear if the stolen vehicle investigation was conducted by the Taskforce for Regional Autotheft Prevention (TRAP). The driver, still followed by unmarked task force personnel, journeyed back north to the El Monte and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Temple Station jurisdiction before heading south on the 605 freeway again. The pursuit was witnessed by a SGV CityWatch reader as El Monte Police followed the stolen vehicle with the assistance of a helicopter.
El Monte officers were notified by the helicopter pilot at 3:43 p.m. and picked up the pursuit at Valley Boulevard and the 605 freeway after deputies decided to cancel the chase, according to Lt. Michael Buckhannon of the El Monte Police Department. Due to the driver’s reckless nature, El Monte officers ended the chase somewhere in the City of Industry at 3:57 p.m., Buckhannon said. It is unclear how many of the suspects were booked on charges and if the suspects were detained without further incident.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - A reported robbery suspect who fled into the wilderness after a pursuit crash was taken into custody around 1:46 a.m. Monday. The suspect allegedly robbed someone along Angeles Crest Highway just before 1:30 a.m. September 16. The suspect was quickly found near mile marker 29 and detained at gunpoint, but fled in a vehicle, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s radio traffic. The suspect fled, at times as fast as 65 miles per hour, in what was initially described as a grey Jeep south on Angeles Crest until the suspect crashed and possibly disabled a front tire around mile marker 27.3. The suspect stopped and fled the vehicle into the wilderness, but ultimately surrendered.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor 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. The suspect attempted to take the south 110 freeway from the northbound 405, but lost control of the vehicle and crashed.
The suspect ran across north and southbound lanes of the 110 freeway and was caught a short time later, according to a written statement provided by Simeon Yarbrough of the California Highway Patrol South Los Angeles Area office. Arrested was Gabriel Lopez, 33, who was booked on suspicion of carjacking, kidnapping, grand theft and vehicle theft. He is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail, according to the CHP.  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!  PHOTO/KTLA 5 News. Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor MOUNTAINS - An SUV stolen out of the Rose Hills Mortuary Wednesday was recovered, but not before the suspect evaded authorities up into the Azusa mountains. The chase began at 4:37 p.m. May 15 from Rose Hills, 3888 Workman Mill Rd. Sheriff’s deputies gave chase, but decided to cancel the pursuit to handle other emergency calls, according to Lt. Robert Westphal of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Pico Rivera Station. West Covina police officers soon gave chase and followed the suspect mostly north on Azusa Avenue where the suspect drove around stopped traffic by using a sidewalk and front yard.
The chase entered Azusa where the driver drove through an empty lot on the southeast corner of Foothill Boulevard and Azusa Avenue, drove over a sidewalk and accessed northbound Azusa Avenue again to the San Gabriel Mountains. In a bizarre twist, the driver used the rough right shoulder of northbound San Gabriel Canyon Road to bypass wide-open road. The SUV’s tires spun wildly over the right shoulder until the SUV became stuck on the terrain. The driver surrendered to West Covina Police without further incident.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor WHITTIER - A mother was arrested May 13, accused of felony evading and child endangerment after officers realized the woman’s 5-year-old son went along during a pursuit. Jazmine Renea Pratcher, 26, was detained by Whittier officers as she ran from the vehicle at the end of the pursuit and pulled her son from the car in an attempt to run into her hotel room. Her 8-year-old son was waiting inside, according to the Whittier Police Department.
Pratcher allegedly refused to stop when officers tried to pull her over after they believed she was driving under the influence around 2 a.m. Monday Pratcher fled recklessly and dove over a residential front lawn and crashed into a parked vehicle, Whittier Police said. The 8-year-old child inside the motel room was left unattended, Whittier Police said. Both children were placed in protective custody. Pratcher was additionally booked on hit and run and has a no-bail warrant for a probation violation. |
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