By Brian Hews

Sheriff’s Homicide detectives report that Juan Alexander Mejia Dubon, wanted for the murder of his father on Friday, May 17, 2013, has been taken into custody.

Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) Sheriff’s Station deputies conducted a traffic stop this afternoon on a vehicle being driven by the suspect. Dubon was taken into custody without incident and no weapons were recovered.

Dubon is charged with Murder and was booked at the SCV Sheriff’s Station and is being held in lieu of $1,000,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in the San Fernando Court on Monday, May 20, 2013.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Walmart will unveil the changes made to the Cerritos store Wednesday, May 22, after a brief ribbon-cutting ceremony at 8 a.m. The expanded store at 12701 Town Center Drive and is open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

It will provide shoppers with one-stop shopping convenience for their grocery and general merchandise needs. The store also offers pharmacy services.
The store is approximately 150,000 square feet, including the expansion of 30,000 square feet to the existing store and will allow for a larger selection of merchandise for customers. New departments include bakery & deli, fresh meat, organic/natural selections, prepared meals, Primo water refill station and fabrics.

Walmart is a true community partner,said Scott Smith, executive director of the Cerritos Regional Chamber of Commerce. Not only do they support the local economy with jobs, but they support the business community through their work with the One-Stop Shopping Convenience
The grand-opening celebration will also include the presentation of $9,800 in grants from Walmart and the Walmart Foundation to local community groups including 1st CEB Adoption Committee, Cerritos Chamber of Commerce, Cerritos Optimist Club, Community Family Guidance Center, Los Cerritos Foundation, Haskell Middle School and Su Casa.

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More Store, More Jobs
The store employs approximately 311 full- and part-time associates, including approximately 55 positions created by the expansion. Store manager Tammy Cannon began her Walmart career in 1989 as an hourly associate as a part-time cashier at a store in Maldon, Mo. “We are so excited to share our newly expanded store with the Cerritos community,” said Cannon. “We think customers will be pleased with our expanded store with a new bakery, deli and fresh meats, as well as with the savings we offer on our full line of groceries and merchandise. On grand-opening day, we will be offering product samples and giveaways, and we invite everyone to stop in and see the new store.”

Crime scene location in Paramount on Tuesday night.

By Randy Economy

Sheriff’s Homicide detectives were dispatched to the 7200 block of Ritchfield Avenue in Paramount on Tuesday night to investigate the circumstances surrounding a deputy-involved shooting death of unidentified male suspect.

In a statement to the media at 11 p.m., it was indicated that no deputies were injured.

“The suspect was transported to a local hospital and pronounced dead. There is no more information available at this time,” said Deputy Peter Gomez.

Whenever a Deputy-Involved Shooting occurs involving Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies, and it results in a fatality of a suspect, multiple independent investigations immediately begin at the scene. These include separate investigations by the Offices of the L.A. Co. District Attorney and the L.A. Co. Coroner, in addition to Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau and Internal Affairs Bureau. Attorneys with the Los Angeles Office of Independent Review also respond to the scene, and have full access to the facts known to the sheriff’s department throughout every phase of these thorough investigations. Once concluded, every aspect of the shooting is reviewed by the Sheriff’s Executive Force Review Committee.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.

Los Cerritos Community Newspaper will have additional details as soon as they are made public by law enforcement officials.

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The devices were rendered safe about 2 hours later (about 8:00 PM) and the evacuation lifted. The suspect’s name is being withheld pending further investigation.”

Location where evacuations in Lakewood are taking place on Tuesday night.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Arson/Explosives investigators are at 5200 Block of Iroquois Ave, Lakewood investigating a possible explosive device in a home, subsequent to an arrest.

The surrounding community which includes all residences inside the perimeter of Candlewood Street, Dashwood Street and Josie Avenue In the city of Lakewood should be immediately evacuated for the safety of the public.

An evacuation center has been established at the community center at Jose San Martin Park, 5231 Ocana Avenue, Lakewood.  The area is near the San Gabriel River and west of the 605 Freeway.

Los Cerritos Community Newspaper will have additional details about this situation throughout the night.

View of Sylmar facing North (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Los Angeles.  Fire fighters and police officers rescued a man stuck in the chimney of the Sylmar Recreation Center overnight after the would-be Santa called 9-1-1 for help.

“This guy could take some lessons from Santa Claus,” said Lt. Paul Vernon, head of detectives for the Mission Police Station.  “Namely, abstain from drink before climbing down chimneys and keep better track of the calendar; there’s still 225 days until Christmas.”

Sylmar resident, Cuauhtli Castillo Lujano, 27, told police that he “fell” into the chimney after he climbed onto the roof.  He said that he had been jumping from roof to roof of buildings because “that’s what people do.”

Officers could smell a heavy odor of alcohol on the man’s breath.

After determining the man had no prior criminal record, and seeing that he had not entered the building proper, officers booked him for trespass of the closed public building, which sits on the grounds of Sylmar Park on Borden Avenue.  His bail was set at $2,500.

“We suspect his intent was to get into the building, probably to steal something, but we couldn’t prove that,” Lt. Vernon explained.  “But we’ll look into his activities and use his fingerprints now to see if there’s any local burglaries we can clear.  Who knows?  Maybe he gave us an early Christmas present after all.”

Anyone with information about this crime is urged to call LAPD Mission Area detectives, 

at (818) 838-9967. During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to LAPDOnline.org, click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

Law enforcement officials in Los Angeles are searching for clues in the death of a popular Verizon employee who was killed last Friday, May 10.

On Monday, members of the Los Angeles Police Department sent out a media alert to every news agency in Southern California asking for the public’s assistance regarding the death of Kenny Jermaine Fulks.

At around 1:00 p.m, employees of a wireless store, located in the 15200 block of Saticoy Street arrived to work, but were unable to enter the wireless store.

Family members of the manager and the police were called and arrived to the business at the same time.  Officers from Van Nuys Division forced entry into the location and found 33-year-old Kenny Jermaine Fulks in the rear office of the business dead from a gunshot wound.  Detectives determined that the victim was last seen around midnight on May 9.

Detectives are currently reviewing security footage from neighboring businesses and are processing physical evidence from the scene.  It appears that Victim Fulks was killed during a robbery.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Van Nuys Homicide Detectives at (818) 374-0040.

During non-business hours or on weekends, calls should be directed to 1-877-LAPD-24-7 (877-527-3247).  Anyone wishing to remain anonymous should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (800-222-8477).  Tipsters may also contact Crime Stoppers by texting to phone number 274637 (C-R-I-M-E-S on most keypads) with a cell phone.  All text messages should begin with the letters “LAPD.” Tipsters may also go to www.LAPDOnline.org click on “webtips” and follow the prompts.

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English: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at the Cannes film festival (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In a huge revelation, actress Angelina Jolie revealed in a New York Times op-ed on Tuesday that she “quietly underwent a preventive double mastectomy” after discovering she carried the BRCA1 gene.

“My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87% to under 5%,” Jolie writes. “I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.”

She says she feels “empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity.”

Jolie salutes her partner, Brad Pitt, who she says was with her during her surgeries at the Pink Lotus Breast Center.

“I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive,” Jolie writes. “So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition.”

Jolie says she decided to share the story of her surgeries in the hopes that it will benefit other women at risk. She encourages women to be proactive about their health if they have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, while acknowledging the cost of gene testing in the U.S. remains an obstacle for many.

“I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer,” Jolie writes.

Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at age 56 after a nearly decade-long battle with ovarian cancer.

Norwalk resident Sherry Ortiz holds a cell phone photo of her son Daniel Ortiz who was killed in February of this year. Randy Economy Photo.

By Randy Economy

It is a mother’s worst nightmare.

For Norwalk’s Sherry Ortiz the death of her beloved 20-year old son Daniel Ortiz just three months ago has turned her like into a “living hell.”

Saturday, February 9, 2013 is “the day my life changed forever,” Sherry told Los Cerritos Community Newspaper in candid and emotional interview last week, just as millions of mothers celebrated Mother’s Day.

“The details are painful to remember, but I need to share with the community my emotions in order for justice to prevail,” Ortiz said.

Ortiz recalled the last day of her “fun and outgoing” son Daniel’s life.

“He worked all day with his brother Joe on Friday, Feb. 8th.  He was in a great mood, it was payday, and spent the evening with his brother at a local pizza eatery in Norwalk,” she said.

“Daniel came home at around 10 p.m., and he then left to visit friends nearby, I had no idea at the time that I would never see him alive again,” Sherry said.

“He gave me a kiss and told me that he would be home later.”

Daniel took his skateboard and went to meet friends to play video games at a nearby home by their families.  Sherry went to bed at around 10:20 and woke up at 6 a.m. on Saturday morning to an empty house.

“I woke up and grabbed a cup of coffee and I noticed he wasn’t in his room, and he hadn’t been home.”  That was unusual behavior according to Sherry.

“He had never stayed out all night without letting me know, or at least giving me a text to tell me where he was, and when he was coming home.  At 6:10 a.m.  I called his cell phone, and it just rang and rang,” she said.  “I knew something wasn’t right.”

Sherry’s sisters arrived at the house at around 6:30, to spend the day together.

“My sister said that the Norwalk Sheriffs’ Department was at Studebaker Road and Foster Road and that the area was blocked off in both directions.”

Daniel Ortiz was just 20 years old when he was killed in a Norwalk collision in February.

“My sister said that there was a body in the street with a white sheet over it,” Sherry said. “I felt instant fear.  Daniel always came home. I ran to the corner to make sure that it wasn’t Daniel.  I was panicked.”

When she got to the barricaded area on Studebaker Road, Sherry asked a Norwalk Sheriff’s Deputy if it was her son Daniel who was involved in the situation.

“Please, tell me it is not a male Hispanic around 20 years of age,” she asked.

Sherry said the officer did not give her any specific information. “I started to cry. I told the Deputy that my son didn’t come home last night,”

“Then the officer asked me if my son had a skateboard, and I said yes.”

Sherry then asked the Deputy if she could see the skateboard, because it had a distinct narrow shaped board and was colored bright purple.

Officers then pulled the half cracked skateboard out of the back of a patrol car to show Sherry, and confirmed that it was indeed Daniel’s.

“I just began shaking uncontrollably.  I think I even collapsed to the ground. It was my worst fear,” Sherry said.

Daniel was carrying just his bankcard and his cell phone in his pocket and did not have a wallet on him at the time of the fatal accident.  His shoes had been knocked off him due to the impact of the crash.

“Coast Hospital was just feet away from where Daniel died, and no one could help him,” Sherry said.

She believes that Daniel was walking across the street in a marked cross walk when he was struck down.

Eventually the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Officer determined that Daniel suffered “multiple blunt trauma with internal bleeding.”

He also had two broken wrists and a broken leg.

“I am thinking that Daniel saw the car coming, had his skateboard in his hand, and threw his arms out in order to stop the car from hitting him,” Sherry Ortiz continued.

Investigators with the Norwalk Sheriff’s Department believes that the person or person’s responsible for the death of Daniel Ortiz was driving a 2003 to 2006 Nissan Titan Pickup Truck, dark blue in color, with severe front damage.

After Daniel’s death, the Ortiz family had him cremated and a public memorial was held at Chapel of Memories.

More than 400 people attended the emotional ceremony.

“I had no idea how loved my son was, and his Memorial service attracted all different kinds of people from all walks of life,” she said.

“Daniel knew all different types of people, he reached out to everyone. He was a free Spirit, full of life,” she recalled.

A small reward fund has been established to help find Daniel’s killer.  So far, $5,000 has been collected from different friends and family members.

Sherry is hoping that Norwalk city officials can help assist her and her family to bring attention to the matter.

An email account called Justice4Daniel@gmail.com has been established for anyone with a solid tip in the case.

The Ortiz family also wants to remind community members that they can call the Norwalk Sheriff’s Station at 562 863-871 for any additional tips.

“Daniel grew up in Norwalk; he went to Nuffer Elementary, Los Alios, Corvallis, and Norwalk High School.  He loved sports, and even played T-Ball as a youngster in our local parks,” Sherry told LCCN.

“He was just starting his life as an adult, and was working as a technician for a company that specialized in security surveillance cameras,” she said.

Daniel Ortiz also worked side by side with his older brother Joe, age 28.  “Joe is beyond devastated.”

The Ortiz family also resided in Cerritos for a two year period. “Daniel fell behind in classes, but he never gave up on school or his dream for a successful future. I was very proud of him and loved him with all my heart,” Sherry said.

“He was a good kid.  He was just starting his life. He didn’t deserve to die this way.”

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