SATURDAY, MAY 28, 2016

VOLUME 10 NO. 22

BANK ROBBERS REMAIN AT LARGE

 
On Wednesday at approximately, 1:00 
pm, a person dressed in an all-white 
jumpsuit with a painters-style mask and a 
black wide-brimmed hat, walked into the 
Bank Of The West on Sierra Madre Blvd. 
in Sierra Madre and orchestrated a take-
over style robbery. According to Sierra 
Madre Police Chief and Public Safety Director 
Larry Gianonne, the suspect pulled 
out a gun and demanded $100,000 from 
one of the tellers. He then pepper sprayed 

the employees. 

 The Sierra Madre Police Department, the 
FBI and Los Angeles County Hazmat responded 
to the event immediately.

 At the scene was FBI Agent Laura Eimille 
who identified the weapon as a semi-auto 
handgun. The amount of money taken 
has not been disclosed.

 The suspect fled the scene in what witnesses 
described as a silver colored sedan, 
driven by another unknown suspect. 

 This is the first bank robbery in Sierra 
Madre in many years. One resident remembered 
an incident where thieves entered 
what is now Chase Bank through 
the roof many years ago. Another resident, 
a retired bank teller now deceased, 
often recounted being robbed in the 
same building (before it was Bank of the 
West), by an armed gunman who was 
never caught.

 There may be a connection between this 
robbery and a string of robberies in LA 
County recently. Anyone who has any 
information is asked to contact the Sierra 
Madre Police Department 626- 355-
1414 immediately. MVNews


SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER

MEMORIAL DAY TRIBUTE

During the week of Sunday, May 15, to Sunday, 
May 22, 2016, the Sierra Madre Police Department 
responded to approximately 120 calls for service. 

Monday, May 16 

A resident reported a bear walking southbound 
in the 2000 block of Vista Ave. The bear left 
the location prior to officer’s arriving on scene. 
At 8:50pm a resident reported seeing a large 
bear going through the trash in the 1200 block 
of Arno Dr. Deputies responded as the bear 
climbed into the backyard and left the immediate 
area. 


Tuesday, May 17 

Officer dispatched to the 500 block of E. Grandview 
regarding a mail theft report. The investigation 
revealed that an unknown suspect drove 
up in an unknown vehicle and approached the 
victim’s mailbox. The suspect removed the 
outgoing mail and drove away westbound on 
Grandview. The case was forwarded to the Detective 
Bureau. 


At 5:30pm., officers met with a resident in the 
lobby of the station regarding a late reported residential 
burglary. The resident stated that earlier 
this morning he left his secured residence in the 
100 block of N. Lima Ave with his dog inside 
his home. Upon arriving home that evening, 
he discovered his dog was missing. The victim 
checked the house and the general area outside 
his home before meeting with the officers. 
Investigation is ongoing. 

Saturday, May 21 

An officer responded to the 700 block of Brookside 
Lane regarding a report of an injured female. 
Officers arrived and soon learned that 
a woman had fallen into the wash behind her 
home, possibly attempting to retrieve her injured 
dog. Along with the Police Department, 
Sierra Madre Fire and Sierra Madre Search and 
Rescue responded to the location. The victim 
was transported to a local hospital by paramedics 
for treatment of unknown injuries.

Sunday, May 22 

Officers were dispatched to a non-injury traffic 
collision at Orange Grove and Rancho Rd. at 
approximately 9:25am. The collision involved 
two vehicles that sustained major damage. 
At 11:50am. officers responded to the 400 block 
of Foothill Ave. on a late reported hit and run 
traffic collision. The victim noticed the damage 
the following day and reported the incident to 
police. The victim stated that no one contacted 
her or left a note regarding the damage to her 
car. 


A resident reported seeing a lager bear in the 
yard of their home located in the 800 block of 
Woodland Dr. The resident said he has seen 
this particular bear in the neighborhood before. 
When officers arrived they were unable to locate 
the bear.


By John Bergeron

Two United States War Department provided while 
marble headstones for two local veterans of the last 
century’s world wars stand here in a family plot at Pioneer 
Cemetery. One marks the grave of Aubrey C. Young, Sr. 
who served as a private in the U.S. Army Signal Corps 
in France during World War I and his son’s, 2nd Lieut. 
Aubrey C. Young, Jr., who copiloted a B-17 over Germany 
in World War II.

 Aubrey, Sr. was assigned to the Third Balloon Company 
and saw action in the major American-Allied offensives of 
1918 – the St. Mihiel Salient and the Meuse-Argonne. The 
Meuse-Argonne Offensive was the largest in United States 
military history, involving 1.2 million American soldiers, 
and brought the war to an end. The battle also cost 
26,277 lives, and 95,786 wounded, making it the largest 
and bloodiest operation of the war for the American 
Expeditionary Forces and the deadliest in U.S. history.

 In 1923 Aubrey, Sr., known as Cy, moved his wife Grace 
and infant son Aubrey, Jr. from his birth and parent’s 
home in Alliance, NE to here. He became the proprietor 
of Young’s Meat Market in town. In 1935, at the age of 36, 
Cy succumbed after a month’s struggle with complications 
of peritonitis and pneumonia after a ruptured appendix. 
He left behind his widow, sons Aubrey, Jr. age 14 and John 
Bradley age 11, and daughter Margaret age 8. 

 Aubrey, Jr. graduated from Sierra Madre High School 
and attended Pasadena Junior College. At 21 years of age 
and 3 months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted 
in the Army Air Corps. He took his training at Santa Ana, 
Oxnard, Bakersfield and in Texas. He was sent to Iceland 
and then to Chelveston, England where he was attached to 
the 364th Bomb Squadron, 305th Bombardment Group, 
flying missions over Nazi Germany as the copilot of a B-17 
Flying Fortress dubbed “The Uncouth Bastard”.

 On October 14, 1943, the 10-man crew of “The Uncouth 
Bastard” accompanied 290 other B-17s and 2,900 airmen 
on the Second Schweinfurt Raid with its aim to destroy 
the ball bearing plants located there. They were met all 
along the route to and the return from Schweinfurt by 
the German Luftwaffe’s fighter arm, the Jagdwaffe, whose 
fighters were lethally equipped with BR-21 unguided 
rockets. Over the Netherlands the 305th Bomb Group lost 
13 of its 16 B-17s in minutes.

 The mission’s loss of men and planes was staggeringly 
high. Sixty bombers never returned to England and 17 
were so badly damaged they had to be scrapped. 650 
aircrew men did not come home alive. The losses had 
been so heavy that the USAAF 
would not return to the target for 
four months and the raid would 
become known as “The Black 
Thursday Mission”.

 Twelve days later in the late 
evening a telegram from the War 
Department arrived at Young’s 
mother’s Ramona Avenue home 
informing her that her son was 
Missing In Action.

 Four of “The Uncouth Bastard” 
crew members were taken 
prisoner and spent the rest of the 
war in Stalag 17B. Aubrey and 
five others perished when their 
fully bomb-loaded plane hit the 
ground at Immendorf, Germany. 
There is still and indentation in 
the ground where it exploded and 
visitors to the site report some 
plane parts remain visible.


SIERRA MADRE FIRE DEPARTMENT 
PARAMEDIC SUBSCRIPTION PROGRAM

 Sierra Madre City Council approved a $272.86 Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Dispatch Fee 
for all non-transport EMS calls. This charge goes in effect July 1, 2016 and will only apply to medical 
incidents where a patient is not transported to the hospital, and will not affect other 911 calls. 
Members of the Sierra Madre Fire Department Paramedic Subscription Program are exempt 
from all EMS related charges, including the EMS Dispatch Fee, after insurance billing. The Sierra 
Madre Paramedic Subscription Program is an official program offered by the City of Sierra Madre 
to offset the cost of emergency medical responses. Residents may register by mail or in person at 
City Hall. Online registration coming soon.