Sketchy information coming in: Thursday night sometime before 9 PM, men wearing some kind of uniform invaded a home on the 3400 block of N. Fair Oaks, and got away with cash and some watches. Nobody's available @ sheriff right now, but we'll try to pursue this as we can today.
Here's a Google street view of the general neighborhood:
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Just got a press release from the Sheriff's department (and thank you to the many folks who have emailed about this, or talked to us personally at breakfast @ Fox's this morning!): a sheriff's deputy shot a white male adult suspect in an incident at the 3000 block of Highview Ave. at about 8:30 last night. No deputies were injured, and the suspect was taken to a local hospital.
According to the sheriff's department, two deputies from the Crescenta Valley station were responding to a family disturbance call on Highview. The call stated that a 17-year-old, armed with a knife, was fighting with his parents. Deputies encountered the suspect outside the residence. When they ordered the youth to drop the knife, he refused and advanced toward the deputies. The press release states, "Fearing for his safety and the safety of his partner, one deputy fired one round from his duty weapon striking the suspect in the upper torso."
The suspect was transported to a local hospital where his condition is listed as critical. Neither the deputies nor family members were injured.
(This report updates and consolidates an earlier story).
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Courtesy Jeremiah Small, looks like "Hoes" has been on the move. (Maybe it's an overenthusiastic gardener -- it's either the plural of "hoe" or he can't spell "hose"-- but probably not).
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Neighbors on the east side of Altadena have notice an uptick in graffiti in the usually quiet area. The first was a 20 ft. monster on a wall on Porter at Gaywood, first noticed Saturday morning (picture: Gino Sund):
That was followed by a tagged street sign noticed on Sunday at Sunny Oaks Circle and Loma Alta Dr. (photo: Steve Gerow):
If you spot graffiti, it's important to notify the sheriff first (798-1131) -- they will take a picture of it to collect gang intelligence. The county graffiti hotline is: (800) 675-4357.
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Thanks to one of our readers, a resident of the area who alerted us to this, the Altadena sheriffs and county arson sqaud safely detonated a small homemade bomb sometime after midnight this morning near the sheriff's station. According to the sheriff's watch commander, a resident found the device in his grandparent's garage -- a bottle with gunpowder, fireworks, and ammunition stuffed inside or taped to it. The resident put the device in his car and drove it to the sheriff's station, where they evacuated the immediate area and called in the arson squad. The device was removed from the car and harmlessly detonated with a water cannon.
The sheriff's spokesman said no charges are being filed, and the best course of action in these cases is to leave the device where it is and call them (I think the sheriff makes house calls!)
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Sheriff's deputies check out a house at the 1300 block of Altadena Dr. at about 3:50 this afternoon. Deputies were dispatched to a call of a prowler in the neighborhood, and were investigating an open house. Four squad cars and the helicopter were called in.
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Not sure how we feel about this -- but the Center for Missing & Exploited Children has a Twitter feed. Today they twittered this address on their website, seeking information on Tommy Bowman, who was missing in Altadena -- in 1957, and in all likelihood was the victim of a serial killer, altho' we may never know for sure, of course (we had an earlier story here). Interesting that, in some quarters, this is still a live case.
(On an entirely different yet Twitter-related note, we were referenced on the conservative political blog The American Sector based on a twitter we left yesterday -- we only pointed out that, for a serious collector, you really had to get the rookie card ...)
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... is one of the featured stations in this PSN piece by Tania Chatila. Because of the age and size of the station, prisoners have to go to Crescenta Valley to be processed. When'll this be fixed? Someday ...
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Just got this emergency notice from the state regarding an Amber Alert (for some reason, we get these hours after everyone else):
Now, IGNORE THAT PHONE NUMBER, as it is wrong -- it rings a doctor's office somewhere, The correct number should be the Altadena Sheriff's Station, 798-1131.
An earlier message gave other details:
PSN, bless 'em, has more news and pictures on their website. We totally stole the pictures from them.
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The ever-reliable Contra Costa Times tells us that Hal Lee Moore, 54, was convicted of second-degree murder and six other counts stemming from a 2006 traffic accident at Hill and Washington. Moore ran a red light and fled a three-car accident, causing the death of
Bertha Vasquez Arias, 30, of Rosemead. He will be sentenced in April, and could get up to 18 years and 8 months.
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Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has extended the $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the death of Floyd Anthony Lofton, a 24-year old man.
On January 13, 2004, Mr. Lofton was fatally shot while at Jim’s
Burgers located on Lincoln Avenue
near Woodbury Drive
in Altadena.
Two witnesses reported seeing an African American male
in a hooded sweatshirt running from the burger stand immediately after the
gunshot was heard. No suspects are in custody.
The Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Homicide Bureau is seeking information to assist in their investigation. Supervisor Antonovich encourages witnesses of this crime or anyone with information to contact the Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-550.
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Chatter on the newsgroups says that there have been a series of break-ins in garages on Morsley. A resident of the area who was doing her laundry in the garage in the early morning hours also says she scared a man who was trying to hop her fence.
This was also reported:
We not only encourage you to report these crimes to the sheriff (798-1131), but let Altadenablog know so we can spread the word and help make our streets safer.
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From PSN, Tremaine Sanders, 18, and a 17-year-old juvenile were arrested Tuesday and charged with grand theft for stealing a purse from a car on Deodar Circle in Pasadena. Details are here.
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It may take longer to write about last night's meeting than the meeting itself. Let's see:
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PSN reports today that Jeanetta M. Standefor, 40, of Altadena, who operated Accelerated Funding Group (AFG), got a hefty fine and prison sentence for defrauding investors in a Ponzi scheme. Details are here.
6:30 PM: LA Times just posted a more detailed article (hat tip: Bo Astrup)
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KABC has a feature on their website about the billboard at Lincoln and Woodbury looking for info on the 2004 murder of Floyd Anthony Lofton on that corner. The board of supervisors has authorized a $10,000 reward in the case, and billboard space was donated by Clear Channel. Lofton left behind three young sons. (No idea what Jim's Burgers thinks of the sign ID'ing them as a murder location).
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Just got word that a car on the 1400 block of E. Loma Alta was stripped of valuable goods (cellphone and videocam) on Saturday night. It was left unlocked in the driveway, and less than an hour after the driver went inside, someone else was making calls on their cellphone.
UPDATE 5 PM 1/13: More rifling thru cars, this time on Sunny Oaks Circle, according to a newsgroup post. Apparently there's also a run on GPS systems that people received for the holidays and mounted in the car.
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PSN's Citybeats column tells us that a mass was held last week in Simi Valley for Tommy Bowman, the eight year old boy who vanished in the Altadena foothills fifty years ago. It was likely that Bowman was the victim of serial child-killer Mack Ray Edwards. Pasadena author Weston DeWalt, who was writing a book about the boy's disappearance found the connection to Edwards and ended up writing about the killer's career (Edwards hanged himself in prison, boo hoo). A sad story from our local past.
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There's been much chatter in the online newsgroups in recent weeks about young people soliciting for magazine subscriptions. Greg Stanton's Meadows blog reports that a young man has also started soliciting for books in his neighborhood.
Many of these are scams of one sort or another. This has also been used in other places as a cover for casing houses for later burglaries. If this arouses your suspicions, give a call to the sheriff at 798-1131. (We have more magazines than we can read anyway, and restrict our at-the-door purchases to schoolchildren and Girl Scouts selling cookies).
UPDATE 1/08: Dennis Bridwell writes to tell us that "Craig Trautman," the name used by the guy working the Meadows, is about as real as "Betty Crocker" -- it's a name they use in a nationwide scam.
UPDATE 1/9: Apparently they hit Harding in the President Streets neighborhood Thursday, according to newsgroup alerts.
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At about 8:45 PM, sheriff's deputies are looking into a disturbance near New York and Allen, about 1700 block New York Ave. According to the scanner, apparently some kind of domestic dispute, but they're talking about having tasers available. Lots of sirens. We're monitoring the situation.
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From a New Zealand website (!) comes a story about Guy Richard Moore, of Altadena, who was sentenced by United States District Judge George H. Wu to spend a year and a day in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution of $400,000 to the Internal Revenue Service and a fine of $6,000. The multiple charges on Moore's rap sheet include tax evasion, drugs, and weapons -- a lot of weapons. LawFuel has the details.
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... and what a party -- scanner says about 200 people are disturbing the peace @ Loma Alta & Lincoln, they've just dispatched deputies and the chopper to break it up ...
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Last month, the Altadena sheriff's deputies got the latest in high-tech policing: a license plate reader in one of their patrol cars that can read plates and alert officers if there's anything suspicious (such as a a car owned by a fugitive, a stolen car, etc.)
That was the car that rolled to the report of a burglary at 2656 Glenrose at about 8 AM Tuesday morning. According to Sheriff Capt. Roosevelt Blow, deputies found two young male Hispanic men outside a garage unloading what was found to be 15 kilos of marijuana into a concealed storage space inside a van.
The men fled the scene, but a third man found inside the garage, Antonio Gaeta, was arrested and charged wih possession of marijuana for sale.
As the deputies were processing the crime scene, a passing car triggered the license plate reader alarm. Deputies pursued and took into custody two female juveniles driving that car, which had been reported stolen in Sierra Madre the day before. Sierra Madre police are handling that case.
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We've had two Sheriff's Support Group websites in our Comprehensive Links page since we've started, one "good" and one "not-so-good." Well, we have to change our description, because "not-so-good" has been spiffed up considerably, with up-to-date information, a membership form, clergy council data, even (gasp!) our precious Crime Log!
Credit for the improvements goes to ... wait for it ... wait for it ....
If Altadena has a superhero, it is he. We're thinking of making him his own category in the cloud. Can he fly, too?
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The LA County board of supervisors has posted at $10,000 reward for information on the murder of 24-year-old Anthony Lofton, who was shot at Jim's Burgers on Lincoln Avenue near Woodbury Drive on Jan. 13, 2004. SGV Tribune has the deets.
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Carolyn Seitz of the Sheriff's Advisory Committee has sent a notice to the newsgroups that a suspect has been nabbed in the Nov. 13 shooting of a 19-year-old man at Fair Oaks and Harriet, outside of Johnny's Liquor. More as we get it (but we're in our undiscolosed remote location, so it may be awhile!)
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PSN has an updated story on last night's battle royale, which was described to us by a sheriff's source as "Armenian vs. Latino." Seven were arrested, including two juveniles and a 71-year-old man. The arrests seem to stem from an attempt by the seven to steal a television set belonging to three Latino men as part of the larger altercation.
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Monica Hubbard of the Altadena Sheriff Community Advisory Committee (and so much more) sends word that sheriff's deputies and paramedics responded tonight at about 6:30 to a fight involving ten people with baseball bats on Allen and Atchison.
One person is down. Paramedics are on the site. A report of hearing shots fired has not been corroborated.
UPDATE 10 PM: We were just on the phone with the sheriff's station, and after 30 rings, gave up trying to raise the watch commander. We'll try to unearth more on it tomorrow.
UPDATE 10:05: SGV Tribune already has posted a story on it: the lede is rather awesome:
Roughly half a dozen people were arrested Tuesday after an armed brawl that encompassed an entire city block and sent a man to the hospital.
... The deputy said callers reported 10 to 20 people fighting in the street using, "bats, chains, anything at hand."
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Courtesy the Contra Costa Times, of course (actually by PSN's Robert Hong), sheriff's deputies and Pasadena police are looking into the three shootings that have occurred in a two mile radius since last week, starting with an Altadena shooting on Thursday.
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This just in from PSN: a 19-year-old man was shot in front of Johnny's Liquor at the corner of Fair Oaks and Harriet St. this morning just before 8 AM.
PSN says of the perp:
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This message, by retired Pasadena Police Lt. Tom Oldfield, has been making the rounds of local newsgroups:
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Corey Lynn King, 18, of Altadena, has pleaded not guilty to killing a woman and her three daughters and setting fire to their Lancaster home Sept. 9. King is being held without bail. The AP story is here.
King has also been questioned in the Altadena murder of 90-year-old Evelyn Mosely, who was found in her burning Lincoln Ave. home in May.
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Making the rounds of the newsgroups: gardeners working at a home on the 2400 block of Tanoble were robbed of their truck and all their equipment, about 12:40 Monday afternoon. Nobody was hurt, and nobody was caught so far.
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Illegal bow and gun hunting has been going on in the local hills ("Ram-bro'" and his ilk) , and this message has been hitting the local newsgroups:
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The encounters with poachers going on near the Meadows are getting worse, with reported threats to dogwalkers and increasingly-aggressive behavior. This message has been making the rounds of local newsgroups, originating Saturday:
Ram-bro'. Yeah, we get it.
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Surveying the local blogs, the Meadows neighborhood reports several sightings of hunters among the trails (of course, hunting is not allowed). Among their tactics, they leave dog food on the trails in an apparent attempt to lure bear or deer, and traversing private property is standard for them. They have a history of animosity toward hikers and dog walkers, so be careful and call the sheriff if you see them.
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The neighbors in the President Streets neighborhood are reporting that someone broke into several cars Sunday night/Monday morning in a rash of burglaries. Second-hand from sheriff's says this has been going on for awhile.
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Making the rounds of the President Streets newsgroup: one resident lost a laptop that was stolen from their car on Monday night, and another reported being burglarized that afternoon: two men arrived at a home, and one talked to the wife while she was gardening while the other apparently went into the home while she was distracted. No report on what was stolen in that incident.
The men were described as black, mid-20's - early 30's. All was reported to the sheriff, but let's be careful out there!
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Frank Girardot's Crime Scene Blog notes the arrest of Mark Walter Sonnenburg, 53, a former teacher at Eagle Rock Montessori School and The Walden School in Pasadena. Sonnenburg was arrested by LAPD on charges that he molested two 9-year-old girls, including a former student, 20 years ago.
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PSN front-pages a Janette Williams story on Mack Ray Reynolds, a serial child killer who confessed to killing six children and has been implicated in the deaths of up to 20. Reynolds hanged himself on Death Row in San Quentin in 1970, and had used his job as a heavy equipment operator during the highway construction boom to dispose of the bodies. His case has recently been re-opened in an attempt to find other victims, including Tommy Bowman, who was abducted from Altadena Drive in 1957.
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Paul F. Little, aka "Max Hardcore," one of Altadena's less-premiere citizens, has been sentenced to 46 months in prison for violation of various obscenity laws. PSN has it all -- well, it doesn't have it ALL -- let's just say it has enough!
P.S. The Contra Costa Times is still stalking Altadena, and files its own story.
UPDATE 10/4: PSN has fleshed out (heh) its story considerably today.
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A puzzling event on Sonoma Dr., covered by KABC: somebody torched Reginald Ingram's Obama campaign sign. Ingram is one of the few African Americans on Sonoma, lending a sinister cast to the whole event. Video is here.
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Riverside Press-Enterprise reports that Joe Olivarez of Altadena and Frank Bazzo of Murietta were sentenced to life in prison without parole Monday in a murder-for-hire scheme in downtown Riverside. Details here.
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Our source on the nuisance house on the 3800 block of Marengo tells Altadenablog today that the big heapin' piles of trash have been removed. (Recap: house in middle-class neighborhood was found to be a pot farm and busted in early August -- it was cleaned up, but all the trash was piled in the driveway -- and there it sat -- and the county couldn't/wouldn't touch it because it was on private property).
The trash was removed late last week by the county after it mysteriously moved from the driveway to the public gutter (rumor has it the trash-moving angels wear badges and drive in black-and-white vehicles). Our source pronounces herself happy with the outcome, as are we, but the empty house remains a potential problem.
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PSN reports a sad domestic tale: Altadena woman finds her boyfriend with another woman at an east Pasadena motel this morning, and proceeds to thrash him with an auto anti-theft device. It just writes itself, doesn't it?
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Corey King (pictured), 18, of Altadena, who was arrested in the killing of a mother and three children in Lancaster, turns out to have ties to the Mosely family. The bloodied body of Evelyn Mosely, 90, was discovered by firefighters May 8 after a fire had been set in her home. In the Lancaster case, Sonya Durfield, 42, and her three daughters, ages 14, 12, and 8, were likewise found murdered in Durfield's home in Lancaster as the house burned. King -- who it turns out knew the Mosely family -- will be arraigned this morning in the Durfield case and is being questioned in the Mosely case. KNBC is first out of the blocks with this story.
The ever-puzzling Contra Costa TImes also has a take on it.
10:30 PM Update: SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle's website) says that King, who pled guilty to petty theft in August, was working as a trusty at the Altadena sheriff's station, doing menial work such as emptying trash cans and washing patrol cars.
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We've been on the road this afternoon, but picked this up and monitored events on our scanner: sheriff's deputies closed streets around the McDonald's at Lincoln and Woodbury this afternoon at about 3:45 PM after reports of an armed robbery in progress. Customers and employees were escorted out, broadcasts seem to suggest that a suspect is in custody but was not able to be identfied right away. Deputies and Pasadena PD were clearing the roadblocks at about 4:45 this afternoon and debriefing in the Lincoln Center parking lot. We'll keep a watch on the situation.
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Pasadena Star-News has a front pager today from Karen Maeshiro about the Lancaster killings of a mother and her three daughters. Corey King, 18, of Altadena, has been arrested for the crime.
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One of our readers who lives on Morada Place east of Lake reports that a neighbor was robbed of all electronics Tuesday (TV, camera, computer, etc.), including thousands of pictures of his three-year-old son kept on two hard drives. Suspects were four black males in a white Volvo wagon, unable to get the plate. Reportedly a deputy, writing a citation, saw the Volvo traveling south on Lake at a high rate of speed.
If you can help in any way, call the sheriff's non-emergency line, 798-1131 or email:
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Corey King, 18, was arrested today in the investigation of the killing of a woman and three girls whose bodies were found in a burning Lancaster house. Firefighters found the bodies in different rooms of the house during the Tuesday fire.
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