Mountain Views News          Saturday, August 14, 2010

Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com

5

Public Safety

Mountain Views News Saturday, August 14, 2010

Arcadia Police Blotter

Sierra Madre Police Blotter

For the period of Sunday, August 1, through Saturday, August 7, the Police Department responded to 
1,109 calls for service of which 131 required formal investigations. The following is a summary report of 
the major incidents handled by the Department during this period.

Sunday, August 1:

1. Shortly after 1:00 p.m., units responded to the 00 block of Alta in reference to a 
vandalism incident that occurred on July 31 in the 2300 block of South Second between 8:30 
a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Unknown suspect(s) shot a small hole in a car window with a BB gun.

2. A grand theft was reported at the Sunglass Hut located at Westfield Mall around 2:00 
p.m. An employee reviewed a surveillance video after noticing three empty sunglass slots in 
a display. She observed two Hispanics, a man and a woman, enter the store around 1:07 p.m. 
A short time later, the male subject was seen shoving three pairs of Prada sunglasses into the 
front of his shorts. The total loss was about $900.

Monday, August 2:

3. Around 1:45 p.m., several victims came to the station to report a terrorist threat 
and assault incident. A known 26-year-old male African-American suspect sent numerous 
threatening text messages to the victims for the past several days. Today, the suspect showed 
up at Ralphs, 1101 West Huntington, and choked one male victim and threw glass bottles at 
another victim. 

4. A victim came to the station to file a fraud report around 12:45 p.m. The victim 
placed her outgoing mail, which contained eight checks, in her mailbox on July 8. She later 
discovered that her payments were not received and her account was overdrawn. Copies of 
her checks revealed that the amount and payee information were altered by the suspect(s).

Tuesday, August 3:

5. A strong-arm robbery occurred by the Par 3 golf course, 620 East Live Oak, around 
3:55 p.m. A male victim was walking on the bike path behind the golf course when two 
male Hispanic suspects, 15-18 years of age, approached from behind. One suspect wrapped 
his arms around the victim, demanded property, and threatened to “shank” the victim. A 
suspect took the victim’s earphones and shirt, and they fled on BMX style bikes. Officers 
conducted an area search, but the suspects were not found.

6. Loss prevention personnel from Macy’s advised that they had detained a woman 
for theft around 7:10 p.m. She concealed merchandise in a shopping bag and left the store 
without making payment. A private person’s arrest was made, and a 43-year-old Caucasian 
was taken into custody for petty theft. A search of her property incident to arrest, revealed 
a baggie of a white crystalline substance resembling methamphetamine.

Wednesday, August 4:

7. Around 3:35 p.m., units responded to Santa Anita and Duarte in reference 
to a motorist brandishing a firearm at another motorist. The victim advised that he had 
changed lanes in front of the suspect vehicle, and the male Caucasian driver became upset 
and pointed a handgun at the victim. An area search was conducted, but the suspect was not 
located. 

8. A victim came to the station around 9:08 p.m. to file an identity theft report. The 
victim checked her credit card statement and discovered 12 unauthorized transactions 
totaling over $17,350. She contacted the credit card company and learned that on July 15, 
an unknown caller, using her personal identifying information, requested a duplicate credit 
card.

Thursday, August 5:

9. Between 7:00 p.m. on August 4 and 7:00 a.m. on August 5, a commercial burglary 
occurred in the 2100 block of South Sixth. Unknown suspect(s) entered a home that is under 
construction and stole fans, sinks, faucets, garbage disposal, camera, and other miscellaneous 
property.

10. While conducting an extra patrol, officers saw a male subject running from the Palm 
Gentlemen’s Club, 11606 East Clark. A witness advised officers that a vehicle burglary had 
just occurred in the parking lot. Subsequently, a 31-year-old male Hispanic suspect was 
located and arrested for auto burglary by the Cocoon nightclub.

Friday, August 6:

11. An elderly male victim came to the station around 11:30 a.m. to report a residential 
burglary that occurred between 9:45 a.m. and noon on August 2. A male Hispanic, 50-55 
years of age, approached the victim and claimed to be a DWP employee. He wanted to check 
the pollution level of the water, so he tested the water from different faucets at the residence. 
After the tests, he left to get some paperwork from his car; however, he never returned. A 
short time later, the resident discovered that his bedroom was ransacked and cash and blank 
money orders were missing.

12. Around 12:15 p.m., a victim came to the station to file an identity theft report. The 
victim received a Nordstrom credit card in the mail when she did not apply for one. She 
contacted the credit card company and discovered that an unknown suspect had activated 
the card by using her personal identifying information, and the suspect had already charged 
over $5,600 to the account.

Saturday, August 7:

13. A traffic stop was initiated in the 00 block of South First around 7:07 a.m. for an 
equipment violation. The driver initially gave officers a false name and date of birth, but he 
later recanted. A record check of his true identity revealed that he had a suspended driver’s 
license, so the 34-year-old male African-American was arrested at the scene.

14. Between 10:30 p.m. on August 6 and 9:45 a.m. on August 7, an auto burglary occurred 
in the 900 block of West Huntington. Unknown suspect(s) smashed a car window and stole 
a stereo and GPS unit.

During the week of Sunday, August 1st, to Saturday August 7th, the Sierra Madre Police Department 
responded to approximately 358 calls for service.

Monday, August 2nd:

11:24 AM – Residential Burglary, 400 block North Lima Street. Suspect(s) forced open a hallway 
window and entered the home. Suspect(s) took a pearl necklace, pearl ring, pearl earrings, gold jade 
ring, three pocket knives and two gold necklaces. The crime occurred between 1:00 pm, Friday, 
07/30/10 and 10:30 am, Monday, 08/02/10. The total loss was estimated at $1,930.00.

10:24 PM – Residential Burglary, 100 block Esperanza Avenue. Suspect(s) entered an unlocked 
apartment laundry room. Suspect(s) took a black metal drop-box containing unknown amount 
of resident(s) rent payment checks. The crime occurred between Saturday, 07/31/10 and 6:50 pm, 
Monday, 08/02/10. The total loss at this time was estimated at $100.00.

Friday, August 6th:

4:38 AM – Auto Burglary, 100 block Esperanza Avenue. Suspect(s) smashed the window of a car 
parked on the street. Suspect(s) took an I-POD Nano, Garmin Nuvi GPS and a Whistler Radar 
detector. The crime occurred between 5:30 pm, Thursday, 08/05/10 and 4:30 am, Friday, 08/06/10. 
The total loss was estimated at $560.00.

11:46 AM – Commercial Burglary, 00 block South Baldwin Avenue. A caller reported a male suspect 
entered the Post Office and tried to make a purchase with a fraudulent bank check. Police arrived 
and arrested the suspect for commercial burglary. Officers booked the suspect at the police station 
and transported the suspect to the Pasadena Police Department jail for remand, pending his court 
appearance. This case is pending further investigation.

1:02 PM – Tampering/Injuring Vehicle, 600 Block Mariposa Avenue. A resident reported her 
vehicle’s window was smashed, while parked in her driveway. No loss was reported. The crime 
occurred between 7:45 am to 1:02 pm on Friday, 08/06/10.

Monrovia Police Blotter

During the last seven day period, the Police Department handled 546 service events, resulting in 104 
investigations. Following are the last week's highlighted issues and events:

Suspicious Circumstances / Burglary

On July 30 at 4:38 a.m., police received a call from the front desk of a hotel in the 900 block of South 
Fifth Avenue reporting a subject breaking into one of the second story rooms. Officers arrived 
and spoke with the victim. She stated she had been asleep and awoke to a noise coming from 
the window. When she went to investigate, she saw a male subject attempting to climb onto the 
second story railing. She was half asleep, didn't think much of it and went back to bed. She then 
heard the window open and saw the suspect's foot enter the room. She ran to the window, yelled 
at the suspect and was able to get the window closed. She had the front desk call police. Officers 
conducted an area check but were unable to locate the suspect. The male suspect is approximately 
20 years old, 5' 8", 170 pounds, brown hair, wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and dark colored knit 
cap. There was another male suspect wearing a bright color soccer jersey who may have helped the 
suspect climb onto the railing. Investigation continuing.

$100 Graffiti Bounty Rewarded

On August 2, an employee of a recreation center in the 500 block of South Mountain received a 
$100 cash reward from Monrovia Police Department's Graffiti Bounty Program. The employee 
witnessed and reported vandalism in progress at the center on July 13. The employee was rewarded 
the $100 bounty for reporting the vandalism which led to the arrest of a juvenile suspect. 

Attempt Burglary - Suspect Arrested

On August 2 at 1:50 a.m., an officer responded to the report of a male suspect attempting to gain 
entry into a room at a hotel in the 900 block of West Huntington. The victim was inside the room 
when he heard noises at the door. The victim looked through the peephole and saw the suspect on 
the other side of the door, attempting to gain entry with a pry tool. The victim made his presence 
known by banging on the inside of the door. The suspect fled from the hotel and was immediately 
apprehended by responding officers. The suspect also had an outstanding no-bail warrant for his 
arrest. He was arrested and taken into custody. 

Irwindale Police Department Outside Assist / Grand Theft Auto - Suspect Arrested

On August 3 at 3:19 p.m., an officer responded to Central and Myrtle to assist Irwindale Police 
Department with containment of a suspect. Irwindale police officers pursued a grand theft auto 
suspect from Azusa onto the 210 Freeway. The vehicle crashed on the freeway just before Myrtle 
and continued off the freeway onto Central. The two suspects exited the vehicle and ran. The suspect 
that was driving the stolen vehicle was apprehended by Irwindale officers. Containment was set up 
in the area were the second suspect was seen, but he was not located. The driver of the vehicle was 
arrested for grand theft auto and had several outstanding warrants for his arrest. 

Riverside Sheriff Outside Assist / Domestic Violence / Attempted Murder - Suspect Arrested

On August 4 at 2:36 a.m., dispatch received a request for assistance from the Riverside Sheriff's 
Department. Earlier in the evening, they handled a domestic violence incident where a man assaulted 
his girlfriend with a knife, beat her, and strangled her to the point of her losing consciousness. 
They learned the suspect was possibly at a residence in the 400 block of East Lemon in Monrovia. 
Monrovia officers responded to the location and detained the suspect. The suspect was transported 
to the Monrovia Police Station, where Riverside deputies interviewed the suspect and subsequently 
arrested him for attempted murder.

THE WORLD AROUND US


Looking For The Coolest Forms Of Life On Earth

 Two UK scientists are traveling to one 
of the coldest places on Earth to help them 
understand how life could exist on other 
planets in our Solar System.

 Professor Liane Benning (University 
of Leeds) and Dr. Dominique Tobler 
(University of Glasgow) are traveling 
to Ny-Alesund on the archipeligo of 
Svalbard, only 600 miles from the 
North Pole, to investigate how the snow 
and ice there was first colonized by 
extremophiles—organisms that thrive in 
harsh conditions.

 The team will spend two weeks on 
Svalbard, from August 6–20, as part of 
the Europlanet Research Infrastructure’s 
Transnational Access Program. The 
expedition is part of the larger international 
AMASE (Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard 
Expedition) project, which uses extreme 
environments on Earth as a test-bed for technology that will 
be used on future NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) 
“Search for Life” missions to Mars.

 In the ongoing AMASE project, a collaboration of nearly two 
dozen biologists, geologists, and engineers comes to Svalbard 
every August to practice and prepare for an expedition to 
Mars. Svalbard, meaning “cold coast,” is an archipelago 
composed of four main islands and about 150 smaller ones. 
It’s a Norwegian territory located about halfway between 
Tromso in Norway and the North Pole. Roughly 60 percent 
of Svalbard is glacierized.

 “Glacial snow and ice is a good analog for ice and frost-
covered ground at the Martian poles or other icy bodies in the 
Solar System, like Europa,” said Professor Benning.

 “Organisms that live here have evolved to thrive with very 
little food, large temperature fluctuations, dehydration, and 
high levels of UV radiation. For example, snow algae make 
carotinoid pigments that protect them from UV radiation 
and cause the snow to turn bright red.

 “If we can learn more about how life can form and thrive in 
these areas, and the survival strategies they adopt, it gives us a 
better chance of detecting life on other planets with similarly 
extreme conditions.”

 To date, studies of microorganisms in the cryo-world have 
focused on life found in sediment-rich subglacial ice or in 
melt holes on the surface. Signs of life present in surface ice 
and snow have not been studied as extensively.

 The team will collect samples from snow fields near the Ny-
Alesund research station and from more remote glacial sites, 
which they will access by helicopter.

 The samples will be filtered, 
preserved and shipped back to 
the UK for laboratory analysis. 
The team will also study 
microorganisms on site using 
life-detection techniques that 
will allow them to determine 
live/dead cell counts, catalog 
the biodiversity, investigate 
the geochemistry of inorganic 
samples, and analyze the DNA 
of microorganisms.

 “It’s a little like CSI [Crime 
Scene Investigation] in the snow,” 
said Professor Benning. “Just like 
a forensics team investigating 
a crime scene, we have to make 
sure we are not detecting any 
contaminants we might have 
brought with us into the field.

 “The sensitivity of our 
techniques is also key. If life 
does exist on other planets, it 
is likely to be present in very 
small amounts—just a few cells 
in a large area—so we need very 
sensitive equipment that can 
detect very small signals. If we 
don’t get our experiments right 
on the ground, they have little 
chance of working elsewhere in 
the solar system.”

 Professor Benning will be blogging about her experiences 
on the Europlanet Outreach Website:

http://www.europlanet-eu.org/outreach/index.
php?option=com_content&task=view&id=259&Itemid=2

 You can contact Bob Eklund at: b.eklund@MtnViewsNews.
com.


A panoramic picture of Friedrichbreen glacier, one of the areas where samples will be collected. 

Credit: Juan Diego Rodriguez-Blanco


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