PASADENA EDITION

 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2018 

VOLUME 12 NO. 51

Pasadena 
Man 
Charged 
in DDoS 
Attacks 

Wishing a Merry Christmas to All

John Perez 
Appointed 
New Chief 
of Police

 
The Justice Department 
Thursday announced the 
seizure of 15 internet domains 
associated with DDoS-
for-hire services, as well as 
criminal charges against three 
defendants who facilitated the 
computer attack platforms, 
including one from Pasadena.

 According to authorities, 
the sites, which offered what 
are often called “booter” or 
“stresser” services, allowed 
paying users to launch 
powerful distributed denial-
of-service, or DDoS, attacks 
that flood targeted computers 
with information and prevent 
them from being able to access 
the internet. Booter services 
such as those named in this 
action allegedly cause attacks 
on a wide array of victims 
in the United States and 
abroad, including financial 
institutions, universities, 
internet service providers, 
government systems, and 
various gaming platforms.

 Pursuant to seizure 
warrants issued by a federal 
judge in Los Angeles, the 
FBI on Wednesday seized the 
domains of 15 booter services, 
which represent some of the 
world’s leading DDoS-for-
hire services. Among these 
sites were critical-boot.com, 
ragebooter.com, downthem.
org, and quantumstress.net.

 In conjunction with the 
seizure warrants, federal 
prosecutors in Los Angeles on 
Wednesday filed a criminal 
complaint that charges 
Matthew Gatrel, 30, of St. 
Charles, Illinois, and Juan 
Martinez, 25, of Pasadena, 
California, with conspiring to 
violate the Computer Fraud 
and Abuse Act through the 
operation of services known 
as Downthem and Ampnode.

 They encourage all DDoS 
victims to contact your local 
FBI field office.

 John Eduardo Perez, a 
thirty-three year veteran 
of the City of Pasadena 
Police Department, has 
been appointed the City’s 
new Chief of Police by City 
Manager Steve Mermell. 
Perez had been serving as 
the Interim Chief of Police 
since April 2018, after 
former Chief Phil Sanchez 
announced his retirement.

 “After conducting a five-
month long national search 
which attracted almost 
seventy applicants from a 
range of agencies,” Mermell 
said,” it became clear to me 
that Chief Perez is what 
Pasadena needs at this 
time. His knowledge of the 
City—and of its people—is 
certainly germane, but it is 
his leadership, his innovation 
and his willingness to work 
with the community that 
he serves which ultimately 
led to his selection. Chief 
Perez is supremely qualified 
to lead us forward and we 
congratulate him on this 
well-deserved promotion.” 

 Perez will oversee a 
Department with 325 
employees and an annual 
budget of $82 million.

 Prior to assuming the 
Interim Chief of Police 
position, Perez served as the 
Deputy Chief of Police from 
2012-2016. Since joining 
the force in 1985 as a cadet, 
Perez has worked in all facets 
of the organization including 
Patrol, Community 
Relations, Internal Affairs, 
Special Enforcement 
Section, S.W.A.T., Special 
Investigations Unit and the 
Counter Terrorism Team. 
He has served in command 
of all three PPD divisions: 
Strategic Services, Field 
Operations and Criminal 
Investigations. 

 Perez holds a Ph.D. in 
Public Administration from 
North Central University, a 
Masters’ degree in Behavior 
Science from California 
State Dominguez Hills and a 
Bachelor’s degree in Criminal 
Justice from Mountain State 
University. He serves on 
the executive board of the 
Patron’s Saints Foundation. 

Artist Sonny Salsbury created this painting depicting snow in Sierra Madre at Christmas. His caption, “Wouldn’t It Be Nice?” reflects the 
sentiments of many a child and adult alike. Salsbury is also a Grammy nominated musician who was born in Pasadena. He is the brother of 
local businesswoman Judith Brandley, owner of Leonora Moss in Sierra Madre.

Part of the 134 Freeway has Signs Up 

Official Barack H. Obama Highway

Climate Change 
in the Library

 Dr. Austin J. Minnich, 
Professor of Mechanical 
Engineering and Applied 
Physics at California Institute 
of Technology (Caltech) will 
kick off 2019: Year of Science 
for the Pasadena Public 
Library at Linda Vista Branch, 
1281 Bryant St. on Saturday, 
Jan. 12, at 11 a.m. Professor 
Minnich will present “Citizen 
Scientist: Climate Change in 
the Library” and demonstrate 
the processes at work on our 
planet with live experiments 
right in front of you.

 In 2011, Professor Minnich 
received his doctorate at 
the Massachusetts Institute 
of Technology (MIT). He 
was appointed Assistant 
Professor at Caltech in 2011 
and has received several 
awards including the National 
Science Foundation CAREER 
award (2013), Office of Naval 
Research Young Investigator 
award (2015), and the Office 
of Naval Research Director 
of Research award (2017). 
Professor Minnich is also 
founder and Principal 
Investigator of the Minnich 
Group: minnich.caltech.edu/.

 For more information on 
this and other upcoming 
science programming events 
planned, contact Robin Reidy 
at (626) 744-7278 or rreidy@
cityofpasadena.net 





 California State Senator 
Anthony J. Portantino 
announced Thursday that 
Caltrans has installed 
the President Barack H. 
Obama Highway 
Signs renaming a 
portion of the CA-
134 Freeway after our 
44th President. The 
renaming was a result 
of the passage of SCR 8 
authored by Portantino 
and Congressman 
Jimmy Gomez. SCR 8 
called for the stretch of 
the CA - 134 freeway 
between the Glendale 
CA-2 and the Interstate 
210 Freeway at Fair 
oaks in Pasadena to be 
named the “President 
Barack H. Obama 
Highway”. 

 Earlier in the year, 
community members 
from across Southern 
California attended a 
reception hosted by 
Portantino, Bob and 
Faye Davidson and 
Occidental College 
to generously donate 
the money to Caltrans 
for the creation and 
installation of the signs.

 “This is an exciting day 
for Southern California 
and it showcases 
our deep respect 
and appreciation for 
President Obama. The 
President has often 
mentioned his fond 
memories of living in 
Pasadena and attending 
Occidental College, so 
it was very appropriate 
to name the portion of the 
freeway he travelled after 
him. Our community 
came together to make this 
happen. It is an honor to be 
in a position to have helped 
facilitate this wonderful 
symbol of our collective 
respect for the grace and 
dignity embodied by our 
44th President,” commented 
Portantino. 

 President Obama attended 
Occidental College from 1979 
to 1981 and lived in Pasadena 
during his sophomore year. 
His attendance at Occidental 
College influenced his 
political trajectory and lead 
him to become one of the 
most revered and respected 
Presidents in history. Local 
democratic activists John 
Gallogly suggested the idea 
to name the freeway to 
Portantino who then took 
the idea to Sacramento. SCR 
8 passed the legislature with 
bi-partisan support. When 
news of the freeway naming 
hit the media, Portantino 
was inundated with offers 
from across the country to 
pay for the sign however 
he chose to keep it local. 
Community members were 
invited to participate and 
take “ownership” of the 
project. Local responses 
were overwhelming, and the 
sign was quickly paid for.

 “So many generous 
people can share in the 
accomplishment of this 
appropriate recognition of an 
inspiring, positive leader. I 
am very grateful to Caltrans 
for its rapid response to our 
community’s generosity by 
installing the signs before 
Christmas. What a great way 
to bring in 2019. I hope to 
have a formal unveiling and 
program in the New Year 
to properly commemorate 
the President and our new 
freeway,” Portantino said.

 
The signs were 
unveiled 10 a.m. 
Thursday

CALENDAR Pg. 2

MORE PASADENA NEWS

 Pg. 3

SAN MARINO/SO. PAS

Pg. 4

SIERRA MADRE Pg. 5

ARCADIA Pg. 6

MONROVIA 

EDUCATION/YOUTH

Pg. 7

FOOD & DRINK Pg. 8

THE GOOD LIFE Pg. 9

WORLD AROUND US 

 Pg. 10

 BEST FRIENDS Pg. 11


SECTION B: 

AROUND SAN GABRIEL 
VALLEYB1

THE ARTS B2

BUSINESS NEWS

B3

OPINIONB4

LEGAL NOTICES B5


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