Mountain Views News          Saturday, February 18, 2012

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Mountain Views News Saturday, February 18, 2012

DOMINIC LAZZARETTO - ARCADIA’S NEW CITY MANAGER

Arcadia Police Blotter

 
Arcadia has chosen a new City Manager, 
40-year-old Dominic Lazzaretto of 
Glendale who has been City Manager 
of the small Orange County town of La 
Palma.

 La Palma is a town of less than 16,000 
people, nearly half of which are Asian, 
and more than a third of which are Caucasian, 
according to the 2010 Census.

 

Assuming Lazzaretto is formally approved 
by the City Council Tuesday, 
Feb. 21, he will start work March 26, 
replacing Don Penman, who will leave 
March 23 after nearly four years in the 
top job and 14 overall. Penman, who officially 
retired last November, will give 
his farewell State of the City address 
at the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce 
Planning Conference Thursday, Feb. 23.

 

“We received more than 80 applications 
for the job and were very pleased with 
the level of interest and quality of the 
applicants,” Mayor Gary Kovacic said in 
a City Council announcement Thursday, 
Feb. 16. After an extensive review 
and interview process, Dominic was 
the unanimous choice of the Council 
Members.”

 
Kovacic and Mayor Pro Tem Bob Harbicht 
finalized the contract with Lazzaretto, 
who reportedly will make a base 
salary of nearly $200,000. When he 
agreed to a three-year contract with La 
Palma less than two years ago, Lazzaretto 
received a base salary of $172,750 
per year and a benefits package (retirement, 
insurance, car allowance, etc.) 
with a value of $67,823, for a total compensation 
rate of $240,573 annually.

 

“Mr. Lazzaretto has some big shoes to 
fill as Don Penman did an outstanding 
job for us. We are confident he is equal 
to the task and are looking forward to 
having him on board,” Harbicht said.

 

Lazzaretto, one of four sons of former 
Burbank City Manager Andrew Charles 
Lazzaretto Jr., has been with the City of 
La Palma for nine years and was City 
Manager for the past six, during which 
time La Palma was twice listed among 
the “Top 100 Small Cities in

 the United States” by Money magazine 
and twice named “The Best Small City 
to Raise a Family in Orange County” 
by Parenting magazine. He is regarded 
as a hands-on manager who is team 
oriented and very involved with the 
community.

 

Lazzaretto’s brother, Charles “Chuck” 
Lazzaretto, was a Glendale police investigator 
who was shot to death at age 
30 in an ambush on May 27, 1997, in 
a Chatsworth warehouse while investigating 
a domestic violence case.

 

–Story By Scott Hettrick, Arcadia’s Best

Photo courtesy City of Arcadia

For the period of Sunday, February 5th, through Saturday, February 11th, the 
Police Department responded to 907 calls for service of which 108 required formal 
investigations. The following is a summary report of the major incidents handled by 
the Department during this period.

Sunday, February 5:

1. Between the hours of 8:04 p.m. and 8:21 p.m., two suspects stole a flat 
screen television from a hotel room at Springhill Suites, 99 North Second Avenue. 
Video surveillance revealed the suspects wrapped the television in a hotel blanket 
and carried it out of the back door of the facility. The suspects are described as a 
White female, 5’1” tall, 90 lbs., with medium length blonde hair, wearing blue jeans 
and a grey sweatshirt; and a Hispanic male, 5’7” tall, 150 lbs., with light complexion, 
wearing a black baseball hat and oversized white t-shirt and black pants. 
2. At approximately 9:02 p.m., officers conducted a traffic stop on a green 
Honda Civic for traveling westbound in the eastbound lane of Wheeler Avenue at 
Indiana Street. Upon contact with the driver, the officer detected an odor of alcohol 
emitting from her breath and person. An investigation revealed the 46-year-old 
Black female was driving under the influence. She was arrested and transported to 
the Arcadia City Jail for booking. 


Monday, February 6:

3. Shortly after 4:00 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 000 block of West 
Sandra Avenue regarding an attempted residential burglary report. The resident 
explained he returned home and noticed his living room window screen was on the 
ground. The officer determined unknown suspect(s) attempted to force entry into 
the home but were unable to defeat the window lock. They fled undetected and no 
one saw or heard anything suspicious. 
4. Around 5:58 p.m., an officer responded to the Drinker’s Hall of Fame 
parking lot, 151 East Huntington Drive, in regards to a hit and run report. The 
reporting party returned to the parking lot and discovered unknown suspect(s) 
collided into the rear of her vehicle. She advised the area is monitored by video 
surveillance. Further investigation is being conducted by the Detective Bureau. 


 

Tuesday, February 7:

5. At about 2:33 p.m., an officer responded to Panorama Drive and 
Michillinda Avenue in regards to a traffic accident. A driver was traveling eastbound 
on Panorama Drive when he swerved his vehicle to avoid hitting a peacock; however, 
he ended up sideswiping an unoccupied parked vehicle. While the driver was on the 
telephone with the Arcadia Police Department, he did not notice that the owner of 
the parked car entered the vehicle and drove away.
6. At approximately 6:32 p.m., an officer was dispatched to the 1000 block 
of Valencia Way in regards to an identity theft report. The victim received a tax 
reporting document in the mail for an online merchant account, which he never 
established. He later discovered unknown suspect(s) opened the account using 
his personal information. He has no idea how his personal information was 
compromised. 


 

Wednesday, February 8:

7. Around 2:00 p.m., an officer responded to the 2000 block of South Fifth 
Street regarding a fraud report. The victim discovered numerous unauthorized 
transactions on her Bank of America account. An investigation revealed unknown 
suspect(s) made bank transfers totaling thousands of dollars without her knowledge 
or permission. She is desirous of prosecution. 
8. At approximately 10:15 p.m., an officer observed two subjects riding their 
bicycles without safety lights on eastbound Foothill Boulevard at Leandra Lane. The 
officer conducted an enforcement stop and discovered one of the subjects, a 19-year-
old Hispanic male, was in possession of multiple drugs and drug paraphernalia. The 
second subject, a 20-year-old Hispanic male, had an outstanding misdemeanor 
warrant. They were arrested for the listed charges and transported to the Arcadia 
City Jail for booking. 


Thursday, February 9:

9. Shortly after 2:22 p.m., officers responded to the 000 block of Christina 
Avenue in reference to a residential burglary report. Unknown suspect(s) entered 
the home and ransacked two bedroom closets. The victim reported thousands of 
dollars in cash missing from her guest bedroom. No signs of forced entry were 
located and no one saw or heard anything suspicious. 
10. Between 2:00 p.m. and 6:15 p.m., unknown suspects stole 96 bras 
from the merchandise drawers at Victoria’s Secret at the Santa Anita Mall, 400 
South Baldwin Avenue. The manager on site explained the store was crowded 
with customers. Review of video surveillance footage for possible suspect(s) 
information was underway at the time of the report. 


Friday, February 10:

11. Around 1:57 a.m., an officer conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle for 
lane swerving in the area of Huntington Drive and Santa Anita Avenue. A record 
check revealed the driver, a 30-year-old Hispanic male, had an expired license. 
The passenger, a 21-year-old Hispanic female, was in possession of a controlled 
substance and drug paraphernalia, and had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant. 
A vehicle search revealed the driver was in possession of stolen mail, sixteen checks 
belonging to other people, and burglary tools. Through investigation, the officer 
determined some of the checks were altered to show the passenger as the payee. 
Both suspects were arrested and transported to the Arcadia City Jail for booking. 


PARTICIPATE IN READ ACROSS AMERICA 

Children and their families are invited to listen to stories read by Arcadia’s own fire fighters on Wednesday, February 29 at 10:30 a.m. 

 Come join in on the celebration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday as readers and listeners across the country participate in this nationwide event. 
What better way to send a message that reading is fun and important! It’s always a fun time and one you won’t want to miss! 

For more information, please call (626) 821-5566 or visit the Arcadia Public Library’s website at http://library.ci.arcadia.ca.us . You can 
now also follow us on Facebook and Twitter. The Arcadia Public Library is located at 20 W. Duarte Rd. Arcadia.

DEADLINE – TUESDAY, 
FEBRUARY 21ST

FOR 2012 SENIOR 
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR 
NOMINATIONS 

Applications are available 
at the Arcadia Community 
Center front desk for nominations 
for the 2012 Senior 
Citizen of the Year! Do you 
know someone who is: caring 
and at least 55 years of 
age; an Arcadia resident; 
actively involved in volunteer 
work; invaluable to your 
organization and deserving 
of recognition? If so, then 
nominate that special person 
for the 2012 Arcadia 
Senior Citizen of the Year 
Award. Recipient of the 
award will be honored at the 
Arcadia Rotary Club’s Salute 
to Seniors luncheon on 
Tuesday, May 8th. Nominations 
must be submitted by 
Tuesday, February 21, 2012 
to the Arcadia Community 
Center, 365 Campus Drive, 
Arcadia, CA 91066-6021.

For more information, 
please call 626.574.5130.

A WORKSHOP 
FOR MIND, 
BODY, & SOUL

 Senior Services Division 
is offering an exciting, creative, 
workshop designed 
for seniors to interact with 
others through storytelling, 
role-playing, and improvisation. 
The group facilitator, 
Tom Franco, will offer a 
clear understanding at this 
free workshop as to the expectations 
of this new class 
that will start in April. Light 
snacks and refreshments will 
also be served to those in attendance. 
The lecture will be 
held Tuesday, February 28th 
from 1-2pm at the Arcadia 
Community Center, 365 
Campus Drive, Arcadia. 

For more information call 
Arcadia Senior Services at 
626.574.5130 or visit our 
website at ci.arcadia.us. 


CAPTAIN NEE 
GIVES REPORT AT

DUARTE CITY 
MEETING

By Joan Schmidt

 At a recent Duarte City Council Meeting, Captain 
Christopher Nee, Commander of Temple 
Station, gave a year-end report of crimes in the 
City of Duarte.

 What many don’t realize is that a Commander 
of a Sheriff’s Station has the “rank” of Captain, 
but in actuality is equivalent to a “Chief of Police” 
for the cities served under his station’s jurisdiction. 
At Temple Station, Captain Nee oversees not 
only the City of Duarte, but the Cities of Bradbury, 
Rosemead, South El Monte and Temple 
City! And then he is also responsible for the unincorporated 
areas of Arcadia, Duarte, Monrovia, 
East Pasadena and South San Gabriel!

 For his presentation on the City of Duarte, 
Captain Nee used charts that showed the crime 
patterns from 2007-2011. Captain Nee began 
with the number of citations issued. There were 
2,582 in 2011, and that was an increase. That is 
not necessarily a negative, because citations are 
issued to improve safety. If people speed or run 
stop signs, for example, I am glad they are cited. 
Hopefully that will deter them from ignoring a 
law again.

 The next topic covered assaults. Aggravated 
assaults are more serious. In 2011, there were 
thirty-nine; twelve of these involved domestic violence. 
For non-aggravated assaults, thirty-nine 
occurred; fifteen were domestic violence. 

 Robberies totaled sixteen; eight armed, eight 
strong-armed. Captain Nee noted that 75 residential 
burglaries occurred. The items stolen 
usually included cash, jewelry and electronics 
such as computers, game systems, iPods, even cell 
phones! Captain Nee told residents they need to 
be alert and call the station if they see anything 
suspicious. This can stop a robbery in process and 
prevent the crime happening again. Commercial 
burglaries reached 35, a sizable drop from 71 in 
2007. Grand theft occurrences were 54, a good 
drop from 88 in 2007. Thirty-eight vehicles were 
recovered, and the Captain mentioned most auto 
thefts occur in the southwest section of the City.

 Petty theft went up to 154 in 2011, from 122 
in 2007. There is now a Task Force working with 
LAPD on this problem. Of these 154 petty thefts, 
77 involved shoplifting. Sixty-one occurred at 
Walmart and 6 six were at Target. 

 Arson dropped from four in 2011 to two in 
2012. Rape went up from four to five; the attackers 
were all known by the victims. Homicides 
cropped from 1 to 0.

 There are 74 parolees in the Duarte area. Of 
these, 58 are monitored and registered. Six parolees 
are non-revocable parolees and there are 
two at large. Sgt Haines said he had been in the 
area over three years, and these two parolees have 
been missing since then. It’s believed they left 
the area long ago. However until another agency 
finds them and contacts the Sheriff’s Department, 
the missing parolees will continue to be 
listed as “At large”.

 Before the Captain left, he was asked if he had 
the County Area statistics for his other cities, but 
he did not.

DUARTE STATE OF THE CITY/SCHOOL DISTRICT/
COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT TALKS AT 

DUARTE CHAMBER LUNCHEON, MARCH 6

Duarte Chamber of Commerce 
will host its annual State of the 
City, State of the School District, 
and for the first time, the 
State of the Community College 
District as well at a luncheon, 
Tuesday, March 6. 

Mayor John Fasana will present 
his assessment of the State of 
the City; while Duarte Unified 
School Board President Reyna 
Diaz will report on the State of 
the School District, and Citrus 
College Superintendent/President 
Geraldine M. Perri, Ph.D., 
will update the community on 
the State of the Community 
College District. 

 The luncheon will be held from 
11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Westminster 
Gardens’ Packard Hall, 1420 
Santo Domingo Ave. in Duarte. 
Tickets to the luncheon are $25 
per person.

 For more information and reservations, 
call Duarte Chamber 
of Commerce, (626) 357-3333.