Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 15, 2011

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Mountain Views-News Saturday, October 15, 2011 

Monrovia Police Blotter

 From the desk of the City Manager Scott Ochoo

MONROVIA: City Secures Additional Block Grant 
Recovery Funds for GREEN Grants

During the last seven-day period, the Police 
Department handled 518 service events, resulting 
in 114 investigations. Following are the last week’s 
highlighted issues and events:

Battery With Serious Bodily Injury / Resisting 
and Delaying a Peace Officer - Suspect Arrested

On September 29 at 8:41 p.m., callers reported 
a fight in the 400 block of Hurstview. Two male 
subjects were arguing and began to fight. The 
suspect moved aggressively toward the victim, 
and the victim struck the suspect once in the 
head to defend himself. The suspect then grabbed 
the victim and viciously bit the victim multiple 
times causing visible wounds that may require 
further treatment. Officers arrived and detained 
both subjects. While being detained, the suspect 
suddenly raised his arms in an attempt to go 
after the victim again and struck the officer in 
the face with his arm. The suspect was arrested 
and taken into custody without further incident. 
The officer was not injured.

Driving Under the Influence - Suspect Arrested

On September 30 at 1:58 a.m., officers observed 
a vehicle straddling lanes while sitting at the light 
on Duarte at Myrtle. They watched as the light 
cycled three times without the driver moving. 
The officers approached the car and observed 
the driver slumped over in his seat. They alerted 
the driver and he jolted awake. They told him to 
turn the car off, but he put it in neutral and the 
car rolled slowly back and bumped the police 
unit behind it. No damage was sustained after 
the slight bump between vehicles. The driver was 
determined to be under the influence of alcohol 
and arrested.

Fight in Progress

On September 30 at 2:37 a.m., callers advised 
dispatch a fight was in progress in the 300 block 
of Norumbega. Officers arrived and detained 
four subjects. They determined the subjects 
were family members and had been involved in 
a heated discussion, which resulted in one family 
member getting extremely upset. As they tried 
to get him back into the car in which they had 
been driving, he resisted them. The investigation 
revealed that no crime had occurred and there 
were no injuries, and no one desired prosecution.

Commercial Burglary - Suspects Arrested

On September 30 at 8:52 p.m., police responded 
to a business in the 500 block of West Huntington 
regarding a burglary. Store loss prevention 
observed a male and female subject enter the 
store. The male subject selected a pair of shorts 
and put them on under his pants. He then left 
the store without paying. He went to a car outside 
the store and waited. The female concealed about 
$400 worth of jewelry on her person and entered 
the dressing room. Officers arrived and detained 
the male suspect, locating the stolen property. 
The female continued to shop and was seen 
removing tags and concealing more items. The 
female was detained inside the store. All of the 
items she had removed tags from were concealed 
in a bag she was carrying. Neither subject had 
money or any means of paying for the items. 
After review of the facts and interviews with the 
suspects, they were both arrested and charged 
with commercial burglary.

Vandalism

On October 4 at 11:12 a.m., a City employee 
reported vandalism at a park in the 300 block of 
East Lime. An officer responded and found gang 
graffiti at several locations throughout the park. 
Investigation continuing.

Vehicle Tampering

On October 4 at 3:15 p.m., an officer responded 
to a residence in the 700 block of South 
California. The victim reported that her white 
Honda, which was parked in the rear carport, 
had been tampered with during the night.

Grand Theft Auto

On October 4 at 3:33 p.m., an officer was 
dispatched to a residence in the 1400 block of 
South Shamrock regarding a stolen vehicle. The 
reporting party last saw the vehicle on Sunday, 
October 2. The vehicle is a black, Chevy Silverado 
truck with no license plates.

Receiving Stolen Property - Suspect Arrested

On October 5 at 3:30 a.m., an officer conducted 
a traffic stop at Foothill and Mountain for a 
traffic violation. The officer obtained consent 
to search the vehicle from the solo occupant. A 
Kindle electronic book was found, prompting 
a suspicious story from the driver. Evidence 
indicated the device belonged to a female from 
Duarte. The female subject was contacted and 
confirmed her Kindle was reported stolen to the 
Sheriff Department a week prior. The suspect 
was arrested for receiving stolen property.

Suspicious Circumstances / Possession of 
Narcotics Paraphernalia - Suspect Arrested

On October 5 at 4:50 a.m., an officer stopped 
a vehicle for a traffic violation at Foothill and 
Mountain. He contacted the two male occupants, 
who said they were from Covina. The subjects 
had no reason to be in the area at that time of the 
morning. The driver was driving on a suspended 
license and was found to be on parole for 
receiving stolen property. He had a large butcher 
knife in the door panel of the driver’s side door. 
The passenger was found to be in possession 
of a methamphetamine pipe. The vehicle was 
searched and the following suspicious items 
were found: a realistic-looking black pellet pistol, 
bandanas, a baseball bat and both subjects had 
latex gloves in their possession. State parole 
was contacted. The passenger was arrested 
for possession of narcotics paraphernalia and 
the vehicle was impounded. Investigation 
continuing.

Detective Bureau Case Follow-up: Receiving 
Stolen Property Arrest

On the morning of October 1, an officer and 
eight police explorers canvassed an area of 
Monrovia in an attempt to locate the victim of a 
crime, wherein two stolen bicycles were recovered 
when a suspect was arrested. They covered a large 
portion of the northeastern part of town handing 
out flyers and speaking with residents. The area 
covered streets east of Canyon and north of 
Foothill. At noon, a subject from the 200 block of 
Valle Vista called to report he had arrived home 
and found the flyer in his mailbox. He reported 
that he had two bicycles stolen from his porch on 
September 16. He stated that the bikes had been 
secured with a blue cable lock that was cut some 
time during the night. He was able to describe 
the colors of the bicycles from a black and white 
photograph he was shown. The cable lock was 
recovered by the officer and a supplemental 
report completed. The bicycles will be returned 
to the owner.

The City of Monrovia recently secured an 
additional $42,932 in Community Development 
Block Grant - Recovery (CDBG-R) funds. The 
Los Angeles County Community Development 
Commission (CDC) allocates CDBG-R funds 
for LA County. The City of Monrovia received 
an initial formula allocation of $112,745 based 
on census data. Monrovia then competed for 
a secondary round of funding and secured 
an additional $50,000 of American Recovery 
and Reinvestment Act funds (ARRA). An 
unexpected third funding opportunity recently 
became available and we were chosen by the 
CDC to receive an additional $42,932. This 
makes our total budget for the CDBG-R program 
$205,677. Neighborhood Services Coordinator 
Dan McConnell, who manages these grants 
and submitted the applications, said that the 
County was impressed by our administration 
of the GREEN Grant program and believed that 
we were best suited to manage the surplus funds 
successfully.

The GREEN (Green Residential Energy 
Efficiency Neighborhoods) Grant is a multi-level 
approach toward improving the energy efficiency 
of residential units. GREEN Grants focus on 
energy efficient home improvements for income 
qualified homeowners. All improvements will 
be conducted by a licensed contractor. A limited 
number of grants are available to single family, 
owner occupied residential properties on a first 
come first served basis. The GREEN Grant 
benefits the environment through installation 
of energy saving measures in residential 
structures and it also creates “Green Collar” 
jobs. This project has created training positions 
for unemployed and low-income youth. They 
receive skill development and on the job training 
in the installation of residential energy saving 
devices. Those interested in participating in this 
last round of GREEN Grants should contact Dan 
McConnell at (626) 932-5504.

“GO MAKE A DIFF’RENCE, WE CAN MAKE A DIFF’RENCE

GO MAKE A DIFF’RENCE IN THE WORLD”

By Joan Schmidt

A few years back, an Annunciation School Mass 
ended with these lyrics, “Go make a diff’rence, 
We can make a diff’rence, Go make a diff’rence 
in the world.” I thought of our M.A.D. Town 
Council-how less than twelve volunteers spent 
many hours to form a group-a “Town Council” 
for the citizens of the unincorporated areas, 
dubbed “No Man’s Land.” Our Town Council 
has served as a liaison between our residents 
and various county agencies, the Sheriff’s 
Department and Highway Patrol. With their 
help and Supervisor Antonovich, many issues 
have been resolved and much improvements to 
the area. WE did make a difference.

This past week, I was elated to hear two 
unpleasant situations being resolved, and in 
both cases it was the residents who “did make a 
difference”.

The first issue involved the City of Duarte, 
rezoning from commercial to residential and 
the placement of low cost housing on the north 
side of Huntington Drive, east of Buena Vista. I 
attended the September 13 meeting addressing 
this issue and there were MANY angry residents. 
The majority felt businesses, bringing in revenue, 
need to be built in that prime location. A few 
said they had no problem with low cost housing, 
but not at that site! Residents were angry that 
the city had voted to change the zoning. They 
felt the proposed housing project was being 
“Snuck in”. What I found out, is the City has to 
put the proposed project in its “General Plan” 
which is available for anyone to read. However 
the General Plan can be very lengthy and most 
would not read it! That evening, residents left the 
meeting angry feeling, that they weren’t heard.

On September 20, I attended the third 
council meeting dealing with this issue. After 
Certificates were given to Parade volunteers, 
there was a special presentation by Air Quality 
Control, which was very interesting and 
informative. This was followed by a presentation 
by the City planner. He presented three alterative 
plans for the low cost housing project to be built 
on Huntington Drive. The first two proposals 
dealt with a smaller structure and more parking. 
The third plan suggested changing the site of the 
proposed low cost housing.

Now, it was time for the City Council members 
to make comments. Mr. Reyes and Mrs. Gaston 
locked horns. Mrs. Finlay came to the rescue. 
She related how many approached her about the 
housing and advised her to explain all aspects. 
Mrs. Finlay explained everything. It began with 
Proposition 13, good for us homeowners, bad for 
a city’s economy. This plus budget cuts by the 
state left cities needing more revenue. So cities 
brought in more businesses. The downside was 
less affordable housing. So the state mandated 
that a certain amount of affordable housing 
MUST be available, or receive a fine. That is why 
the City of Montebello recently received a hefty 
fine!

Now it was time for residents to speak. Most 
reiterated comments made at the September 
13th meeting. Then a resident called for the 
recall of the Mayor and three of the Council 
members. However, the meeting ended with a 
5-0 vote approving a different site for the low 
cost housing! Duarte residents had made phone 
calls, contacted local newspapers, passed out 
flyers and attended city meetings in force angrily 
addressing the Council. Duarte residents, you 
did go out and made a diff’rence!

The second issue involved the Los Angeles 
County Board of Supervisors and the 
supervisorial redistricting. There was a choice 
of three plans. Plan A-3 submitted by Supervisor 
Don Knabe was supported by his district and 
that of Zev Yaroslavsky and Mike Antonovich. 
This plan involved only small changes. The plans 
submitted by Supervisors Gloria Molina and 
Mark Ridley-Thomas involved the movement of 
3.5 million people!

Our area favored A-3 as we didn’t want to lose 
Antonovich. He has helped the M.A.D. area in 
so many different issues, brought in so many 
wonderful programs and our gym at Pamela 
Park. Our surrounding cities felt the same way. 
We have developed a rapport and none wanted to 
be pulled away into a different district. Knabe’s 
people felt the same way; their arguments to 
stay in his district were similar. Knabe listens to 
them, helps solve problems and has brought in 
so many positive programs. One of my favorites 
involves Rancho Los Amigos in Downy, which 
has inspired so many handicapped artists. 
Yaroslavsky’s supporters spoke of their unique 
areas with its unique problems. They include 
Malibu, Agorra Hills, San Fernando, Calabassas 
and North Hollywood to name a few. They had 
fires, flooding and mudslides. He is aware of 
their issues and how to resolve them.

On September 20th, I attended the 2nd 
meeting dealing with the supervisorial issue. 
During a three hour time frame, I listened to 
MANY 1-minute addresses pushing for Plan 
A-3, and learned a lot. However I wondered how 
ANY resolution could occur. Four votes were 
needed to pass a plan and only three supervisors 
supported A-3.

The third and final meeting was September 27. 
I thought NOTHING could top the 800 attending 
the September 20th meeting. However, OVER 
1000 did and there were FOUR other rooms 
being used and STILL an overflow outside! I 
went to bed that night very discouraged. There 
seemed to be NO way plan A-3 could get passed. I 
resolved myself to that with the idea I would write 
letters to the Sheriff, District Attorney and Count 
Assessor urging Plan A-3! (The vote was to go to 
them if it wasn’t resolved by the supervisors!) But 
in the morning I found out A-3 passed. 

How could this happen? Supervisor Ridley-
Thomas cast the winning vote! He still believed 
in his plan. But he knew this issue could not 
be resolved. Enough time had been spent on 
it. There are other important issues for the 
supervisors to deal with, and it was time to move 
on.

On Facebook, Knabe thanked everyone 
who gave support. That would be not only be 
THOUSANDS who attended the meeting and 
spoke, but also wrote letters, emails, and made 
phone calls! Yaroslavsky could not believe 
the overwhelming response on this issue and 
how it brought so many people from different 
areas together! And of course Antonovich was 
grateful and pleased. I congratulate you, the 
THOUSANDS of L.A. County residents who 
made this happen. All your hard work, efforts 
and sacrifices did pay off! You went out and 
made a “diff’rence”!