 Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LOS ANGELES - A 16-month-old child taken by his non-custodial mother during an unsupervised visit was safely located in Mexico, authorities recently said.
Miguel Eduardo Zuniga Medina was found last week and safely returned to the United States. Mother Bridget Benitez, 31, was also found in Aguascalientes, Mexico. She has since been deported, according to the FBI. A Federal arrest warrant was issued for Benitez who is accused of taking her baby after an unsupervised visit February 6. Benitez crossed the border at Otay Mesa March 6. The child was placed into the care of a foster parent by the Department of Child and Family Services. “A federal arrest warrant for Benitez was obtained on Thursday, March 7, after she was charged with international parental kidnapping in a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The complaint alleges that Benitez intentionally obstructed the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS), who holds legal and physical custody of Medina, Jr.,” according to the FBI in a written statement. The child’s father, Miguel Eduardo Medina Zuniga, Sr., is the non-custodial father and is believed to be living in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Medina was arrested last year, accused of a domestic violence incident and apparently has a history of violent altercations in the presence of children, according to a juvenile dependency petition filed in Los Angeles County. Following last year’s arrest, the child was placed in the custody of DCFS, according to the FBI. “The Superior Court in Los Angeles County found that it was necessary to remove Medina, Jr. from his parents for his own health, safety, and well-being. Benitez and Medina, Sr. have also been charged in Superior Court in Los Angeles County,” according to the FBI.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - Two 500 kilovolt transmission lines in the Walnut area malfunctioned, causing 159,239 customers to lose power in the San Gabriel Valley early Sunday, a Southern California Edison spokesman said.
Some customers in Walnut, Covina, West Covina, La Puente, Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, El Monte, the Whittier Narows area, Irwindale and Baldwin Park were affected by the outage that began at 6:47 a.m., according to Reggie Kumar, Southern California Edison spokesman. Customers in Carson were affected as well. Power was fully restored with the help of generators at 7:36 a.m., Kumar told SGV CityWatch. “Those transmission lines actually feed all the way to Bakersfield, so it was a very large loss,” Kumar told SGV CityWatch. The transmission lines are located in the City of Walnut. The cause is under investigation and repair work continues, Kumar told SGV CityWatch.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION – Two separate fires burned within an hour of each other Thursday, killing two in a Walnut home and killing one in a Pomona apartment complex.
Three firefighters were injured during a fire in a two-story, 2,500-square-foot home in the 600 block of Rocking Horse Road in Walnut. The fire was reported at 9:54 a.m. Two people inside the structure were removed and declared dead at the scene, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. A total of 49 firefighters knocked down flames by 10:47 a.m. The three firefighters suffered minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department. One person was displaced by the house fire. A fire was reported in a first-floor unit of a two-story apartment complex in the 1100 block of East Franklin Avenue at 10:33 a.m. Smoke was seen by firefighters several blocks away. One person died in the Pomona fire that was knocked down by 11 a.m., the Los Angeles County Fire Department said. One person was taken to a trauma center, another person was evaluated at the scene for minor injuries.  Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor REGION - The driver of a 2018 Honda Civic died after his car veered across the southbound 57 freeway near Diamond and crashed over a dirt embankment Friday. The California Highway Patrol identified Carlos Silva Cabrera, a 36-year-old Riverside man, as the driver who died at the scene south of Brea Canyon Road December 27. The crash occurred around 10:05 p.m. Silva Cabrera was in an unknown lane at an unknown speed when he drifted into the dirt embankment.
CHP traffic logs initially indicated the Honda veered into a canyon. By 10:33 p.m., a CHP officer found the vehicle. A Sig Alert was issued for the No. 3 and 4 lanes at 3:05 a.m. The Sig Alert was cancelled at 5:52 a.m., the CHP said. |
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