Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 18, 2012

4


Mountain Views-News Saturday, February 18, 2012 

Marston 
Hefner 
Arrested 
for Battery 

Police Raid Homeless 
Encampments Prior to 
Occupy Protest

 
Police Commander Chris 
Russ told a group of residents 
Wednesday night that the 
department conducted sweeps 
of large homeless encampments 
prior to the occupy protest 
aimed at the 123rd Tournament 
of Roses parade Jan. 2. 

 “We wanted to make sure 
that everyone understood, you 
weren’t going to spend the night 
in our parks,” he said. “You 
weren’t going to spend the night 
near our freeways and create a 
problem.” 

 Although he was not specific, 
Russ said they first cleared a 
large homeless encampment 
near an off ramp of 210 freeway 
on west side of the city and then 
later conducted another sweep 
in east Pasadena. Both incidents 
occurred “about a month and a 
half ago,” he said. 

 Russ made the comments 
while talking about a newsletter 
sent out by Chief Phil Sanchez 
as an email blast about post 
police events and instances. 
He said anyone can sign up 
to get the info by emailing the 
department. 

 Pasadena police doubled the 
number of law enforcement 
agents patrolling the parade 
and skies, in addition to extra 
officers there were also extra 
sheriff’s deputies, CHP, and 
undercover federal agents 
according to a press release sent 
out at the time.

 Occupy the Rose Parade 
organizer Peter Thottam 
estimated other 1,000 people 
marched in the event tagged to 
the end of the official parade.

 
Marston Hefner, the son 
of Hugh Hefner, founder 
of Playboy Magazine, was 
arrested Sunday night after 
police say he allegedly 
attacked his girlfriend 2011 
Playboy Playmate of the 
year Claire Sinclair. 

 Police say they responded 
to a residence in the 100 
block of West Del Mar Blvd., 
at 10 p.m. after receiving a 
call of a suspected domestic 
violence battery.

 Their investigation 
revealed sufficient probable 
cause to warrant the arrest 
of Hefner for domestic 
violence battery. Sinclair 
sustained minor injuries. 
On Monday, police said she 
was issued an Emergency 
Restraining Order.

 Hefner was booked in 
the Pasadena Jail. He later 
posted $20,000 bail. The 
case will be forwarded to 
the City Prosecutor’s Office. 
Hefner is due in Pasadena 
Superior Court March 
14 on Domestic Battery 
charges.

 Hugh Hefner released a 
statement Monday saying 
the couple would “patch it 
up” if “they care about each 
other.” Reports Wednesday 
also say he posted, “I’m 
really disappointed in my 
son Marston’s behaviour & 
have expressed my support 
to Claire,” on Twitter.


By Dean Lee

 A district 6 meeting got 
contentious Wednesday night 
after residents and business 
owners claimed police were 
doing nothing to stop drug 
dealing, prostitution and 
fighting in Central Park, across 
from the Del Mar Gold Line 
Station and blocks away from 
Union Station homeless shelter. 
Police Chief Phillip Sanchez 
denied all allegations.

 Sanchez interrupted two 
owners of La Grande Orange 
Café as they made claims of 
rampant drug use and fist 
fighting in the park and the 
Del Mar Gold Line Station, 
derailing the conversation he 
was having about homelessness 
in Pasadena. 

 “Statistically speaking your 
assertion does not pan out, the 
reality is that the park is not 
generating the perception that 
you might have,” Sanchez said 
making the comment about 
halfway through the public 
discussion.”

 After the meeting Police 
Commander Chris Russ said 
there were 384 police responses 
to the park over the last year, of 
which, he said 299 were officer 
initiated. 

 “That’s when they go out to 
check the park, get out of the 
car,” Russ said although did not 
know the breakdown on types of 
calls, such as violent robberies 
or assault. 

 “We break it down by self 
initiated vs. a call or request for 
services in the park,” he said.

 Russ told residents that last 
month the area was swept by 
two undercover drug teems. He 
also said although the response 
numbers were high, actual 
arrests were low.

 “Officers will go out there 
and ask them to move on, the 
problem is, it’s a public park,” he 
said. “Nobody has the right to 
ask you to move on, just because 
they are laying there in the park, 
you can’t ask them to more on.”

 Russ said they can ask question 
such as, are they on active 
parole? “We can’t violate their 
constitutional rights.” 

 Co-owners, Adam Strecker 
and Bob Lynn of LGO 
Hospitality which operates the 
La Grande Orange Café said 
things had gotten so bad they 
were considering closing the 
restaurant and leaving Pasadena 
altogether. Strecker said 
they were not worried about 
homelessness they cared about 
crime. 

 “The last one we had was a 
knife fight that actually occurred 
in the building,” Strecker said. 
“It started across in the park, 
spilled over inside the building.”

 He went on , “The guy grabbed 
a knife off the table, swung it 
at one of the managers, they 
[police] detained the guy, one 
of the police officers comes back 
in and says that we are going 
two let these two guys go. I said 
myself, you need to arrest them 
he swung a knife at one of our 
managers.”

 Strecker claimed no arrest was 
made and no police report was 
filed. He also said in another 
instance Lynn saw an officer sit 
in her police car watching a fight 
in the park doing nothing about 
it.

 Sanchez tried to stop the 
two restaurant owners from 
continuing asking that they 
have the conversation after the 
meeting.

 “I’m hearing we’re concerned 
about homeless but we’re not 
concerned about homeless,” 
Sanchez said. “Maybe we can 
have a separate dialog after…”

 Lynn said he was not interested 
in a one on one “sidebar” 
meeting, “I think there are a 
lot of other people in the room, 
with all do respect, that care 
about this issue.”

 Sanchez said there are a 
number of reasons reports are 
not written, “I’m not suggesting 
for a moment that that’s 100 
percent a true capture for the 
dynamic that’s occurring there.”

 He said in the last year 20 times 
a report was generated, “because 
someone wanted one.”

 Teddy Bedjakian, owner of the 
Equator restaurant off Colorado 
Blvd said he no longer calls the 
police saying when one drug 
dealer is gone another moves 
in, he said he now takes care of 
the situation himself something 
officers advised against.

 “Last week I caught a gentleman 
smoking meth in my stairwell,” 
Bedjakian said. “I broke the 
pipe, I kicked him out.” He said 
the man called police accusing 
him of assault, “There is nothing 
I can do, my hands are tied.” 

 Bedjakian said calling the 
police has also affected his 
liquor license.

 “I have probably the worst 
conditions of any business 
owner,” he said. “I have 28 
conditions; I have to have a 
security guard, at a restaurant.”

 Other residents also claimed 
the park was overrun by drugs 
and homeless, at one point 
circulating pictures of people 
sleeping in the children’s play 
area, “Would you want to have 
your kid play there,” one of them 
said. They also accused police of 
doing nothing about Church 
of the Nazarene of Pasadena 
feeding hundreds of homeless 
Sunday mornings, “This is like 
they are opening up the Apple 
store with a new product, with 
the line, waiting to be fed.”

 Sanchez said, earlier, that 
nightly there are between 950 
to 1,100 homeless in shelters, 
temporary housing and on the 
street. He also said estimates 
suggest that four out of every 
six returning Iraqi war veterans, 
and others that served in the 
Middle East, will end up on the 
street. 

He said, “The good news in 
that area is, we have over 1,200 
nonprofits in Pasadena, in 
one form or another, who are 
capable of helping individuals.” 

 Strecker and Lynn suggested 
numerous times during the 
meeting they were also willing 
to help clean up the park, with 
possible activities. 

Business 
Owners Call 
for Better 
Policing of 
Central Park

City Gets Book Festival, 
Launches Saint Patrick’s Day

 Pasadena book lover’s will get 
a taste of the first community-
wide book festival, LitFest as it 
hits town next month organizers 
announced Friday. The event 
will be held on Saint Patrick’s 
Day in the city’s Central Park. 
Admission is free.

 LifFest Pasadena will be a 
celebratory day of readings 
and panel discussions featuring 
well-known local and California 
authors, hands-on activities for 
young people, good food, better 
books, and great fun, all aimed 
at promoting the literary arts.

 Attendees can look forward to 
an irreverent and informative 
festival that incorporates 
theater, music, poetry, and 
more. Some of L.A.’s hottest 
gourmet food trucks, courtesy 
of Chefs Center, will be located 
along Raymond Avenue, and 
public parking is under the Gold 
Line Del Mar Station directly 
across the street from Central 
Park, a comfortable green space 
between Raymond and Fair 
Oaks Avenues just south of the 
historic Castle Green.

 Panel discussions will explore 
topics such as 21st Century 
Noir; The Rise of the Graphic 
Novel; Local L. A. Publishers: 
Where New York Dominates, 
L.A. Innovates; The L.A. 
Canvas; and History, Fiction...
Truth?

 Confirmed authors include 
Pulitzer Prize-winner Jonathan 
Gold; novelists Mona Simpson, 
Michelle Huneven and Lian 
Dolan; L.A.’s unofficial poet 
laureate, Wanda Coleman; poet 
and Young Adult author Ron 
Koertge; scholar and Libros 
Schmibros founder David 
Kipen; and L.A. mystery writer 
Denise Hamilton. More than 
25 publishers and vendors will 
have books by these and other 
authors available for sale at the 
event.

 A children’s area will feature 
storytelling, Shakespearean 
actors from Foshay Learning 
Center, and a Quidditch 
demonstration!

 For more information: 
litfestpasadena.org

Temporary 
Fire Station 
Up and 
Running 

 Councilmember Steve 
Madison gave a quick 
update Wednesday night 
surrounding the temporary 
fire station in a private 
home saying firefighters 
had received their first call 
earlier in the day.

 Madison said that 
although it was a sacrifice 
for neighbors in the 100 
block of Glen Summer 
Road, he explained the city 
had done everything to ease 
the pain including disabling 
the warning “beep” from 
rescue ambulances as they 
backup. He also said sirens 
would not be used until 
vehicles got to Avenue 64 or 
Colorado Blvd.

 “That way no one in the 
middle of the night is going 
to be awakened by that,” he 
said.

 During a two hour long 
discussion last week, 
residents argued that fire 
and ambulance trucks 
racing through narrow 
streets could put lives at 
risk. San Rafael Park is also 
at the end of the street they 
said. 

 Some also accused the city 
of rubber stamping a six 
month deal with a private 
home owner to use the 
property.

 He said rebuilding station 
39 would take 18 months. 
They are in the design 
phase now he said. The city 
is exempt from needing a 
CUP and EIR for one year 
he said. 

 “I think the ideal situation 
is, if we can find another 
location or two, we could 
do Glen Summer for six 
months, and then another 
for six months and then 
another,” he said.

Antonovich 
Welcomes 
Vice President 
Xi Jinping


Citizen 
Journalism 
Meet-up

 Supervisor Michael D. 
Antonovich welcomed Vice 
President Xi Jinping of the 
People’s Republic of China to 
Los Angeles County Thursday

 Learn not just how to 
blog but how to report 
the news

 The Pasadena Community 
Network and this newspaper 
are holding a workshop on 
Citizen Journalism. 

 This group is the place where 
aspiring journalists can learn 
from trained professionals 
and support their local 
community by covering what’s 
really happening in their 
neighborhoods.

 We will put the news in your 
hands. Learn how to find 
the story, the tools needed to 
capture the story and the means 
to tell the story using the power 
of video, audio and print along 
with online social media The 
next meeting is Feb. 14 from 6 
p.m. to 8p.m. at the Pasadena 
Community Network - Studio 
G, 2057 N. Los Robles Ave.

 For more info call 626.794.8585 
or visit pasadenan.com.

Pet of 
the Week


Portantino Introduces 
Disaster Readiness Bill

 Nani is a three-year-old 
Doberman Pinscher. She 
loves being petted and is a 
very active girl. An active, 
loving family would be 
great for her. 

 Nani’s adoption fee is $120, 
which includes her spay 
surgery, a microchip, the first 
set of vaccinations, as well 
as a free follow-up health 
check at a participating vet. 
New adopters will receive 
complimentary health and 
wellness exam from VCA 
Animal Hospitals. Ask an 
adoptions counselor for 
more information during 
your visit.

 Call the Pasadena 
Humane Society & SPCA at 
626.792.7151 to ask about 
A243627 or visit at 361 S. 
Raymond Ave. in Pasadena. 
Adoption hours are 11-4 
Sunday, 9-5 Tuesday –
Friday, 9-4 Saturday. 
Directions and photos of all 
pets can be found at www.
pasadenahumane.org.

 

 In the wake of fierce winds 
and power outages that caused 
significant damage to parts 
of Southern California late 
last year, Assemblymember 
Anthony Portantino has 
introduced a bill to improve 
emergency and disaster 
preparedness in California.

 AB 1650 requires gas and 
electric companies to hold 
comprehensive disaster 
preparedness meetings every 
two years with the counties and 
cities they service in order to 
improve readiness and better 
prepare for future disasters. 
It also calls on the California 
Public Utilities Commission to 
use its regulatory authority to 
set preparedness standards for 
public utilities.

 “We learned some things from 
this recent disaster that change 
how we look at these events,” 
explained Assemblymember 
Portantino. “Having utilities 
review their plans every 
two years will force better 
coordination, better service 
and better public safety. Many 
ratepayers may not know that 
a portion of their utility bills is 
intended to pay for emergency 
preparedness; let’s make sure it 
does.”

 The San Gabriel Valley was 
hit hard in early December 
by devastating winds that 
knocked out power to nearly a 
quarter of a million customers, 
some of them for more than a 
week. In a preliminary report, 
the California Public Utilities 
Commission stated that in 
some cases, Southern California 
Edison’s equipment did not 
meet safety standards and that 
the utility was slow to restore 
power to homes and businesses. 
Local utilities also had trouble 
with communications plans.

 AB 1650, gas and electric 
companies will be required 
to begin their disaster 
preparedness meetings within 
three months of the legislation 
becoming law.

Portantino Introduces Legislation Deleting 
the Statute of Limitations for Rape

 Assemblymember Anthony 
Portantino introduced AB 
1682, this week, his latest 
effort to ensure that rapists 
are ultimately caught and 
convicted in California. 
“Under current law, there is a 
ten year statute of limitation 
for the crime of rape. AB 
1682 deletes this arbitrary 
time limit and will provide 
that those who sexually 
prey on our citizens can be 
brought to justice.

 “I have in the past 
introduced legislation to 
ensure that all rape kits that 
are collected in California 
are tested for evidence of 
crime. Unfortunately, many 
rape kits are never tested. It 
is frustrating to know a rapist 
could continue to walk the 
streets because a vital piece 
of evidence went untested 
because of the costs of 
processing these kits.”

 Under current law, evidence 
from rape kits is held in 
law enforcement evidence 
lockers where many languish, 
oftentimes past the statute of 
limitations for prosecuting 
the crime. AB 1682 will 
provide a different solution to 
the problem by deleting the 
statute of limitations for the 
crime of rape. “While justice 
delayed, is justice denied; 
a statute of limitations that 
terminates prosecution 
because we do not want to 
spend money testing rape 
kits is unconscionable.” 
This measure will hold 
accountable those who 
commit this terrible crime 
whenever it was committed.

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