John Edward Maust, 34, a teacher at Arroyo Pacific Academy in Arcadia, was arrested for kidnapping three juveniles after asking them for a ride. Maust pulled a knife on them. He turned himself in to Altadena Sheriff's Station.
John Quigley, one of the "Arcadia four" tree-sitters arrested on January 12, 2011, while protesting destruction of an 11-acre Arcadia woodland, has told supporters he will appear today in Alhambra Superior Court and will plead no contest to trespassing.
Arcadia City's legal team and traffic safety experts re-created the scene of the crash that killed Arcadia teen Alice Zhang, 16, of Arcadia, and badly injured her friend Priyanka Patel of Upland, on April 10, 2011. The driver, Bowen Du, 20, of Arcadia, has been sentenced to one year in jail after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter and reckless driving.
John Quigley, the last of the protesting "Arcadia four" tree-sitters, took a deal from prosecutors and pleaded no contest to a single count of trespassing. He has a $60 fine, which was waived for jail time served, three years of informal probation, and 20 hours of community service at a nonprofit agency.
Michelle and Tyjana Boykins, 30 and 29, were awarded $200,000 after claiming to be unjustly strip searched by a female Monrovia police officer in September of 1990.
Two of the four Arcadia "tree-sitters"--Julia Jaye Posin and Andrea Bowers--have pleaded no contest to one count each of trespassing, while protesting the destruction of an Arcadia woodland. The two women were fined $60, waived for jail time served, and ordered to do 10 hours of community service. The two other tree-sitters John Quigley and Travis Jochimsen are scheduled to appear in court in late July.
California Horse Racing Board suspends trainer Steven Jiro Miyadi's license after battery on jockey Alex Solis. Miyadi is a 59-year-old resident of Arcadia.
San Gabriel Mayor Albert Y. M. Huang, 35, was arrested on suspicion of felony robbery and assault and battery, after an argument with an unidentified woman over money at New Taste Dupling House at 301 West Valley Boulevard. He graduated from Arcadia High School in 1994.
Former Arcadia police officer Christian Blesch (photo), 36, was arrested for embezzlement of Arcadia Police Officers' Association funds. As of September 24, 2013, Blesch was terminated. Blesch allegedly charegd more than $50,000 for personal items on a police association's credit card. He pleaded not guilty to a felony count of grand theft by embezzlement.
Arcadian Allan Gruener, a working actor who serves on the Foreign Board and the Student Film Board of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is profiled.
Receiving stolen property arrests aided by identification of items and social media. On February 21, Arcadia police arrested two female adults, Daijah D. Ellsworth and Rickeira T. Pearson, one juvenile female, and an adult male for stolen property in their car. Police connected the arrestees to a burglary in Palos Verdes using social media platform "Nextdoor."
Brandon Landreth, a former John Muir High School (Pasadena) history teacher, was sentenced to 35 years to life, in state prison for killing Arcadia man Justo Cesar Morales, nearly 3 years ago. Authorities believed Landreth shot Morales because Morales was dating Landreth's ex-wife.
All four "tree-sitters" arrested while protesting the destruction of an 11-acre oak woodland in Arcadia appeared in Alhambra Superior Court and pleaded not guilty to one count each of trespassing and obstruction a police officer. They are John Quigley, 50, of Glendale, Julia Jaye Posin, 23 of Venice Beach, Travis Jochimsen, 28, of Lancaster and Andrea Bowers, 45 of Los Angeles. They rejected an offer of community service and payment of restitution from the District Attorney's office. The four will appear in court again April 22 for a pre-trial hearing.
Sex offender Jaime Elvis Elizondo, 35, of San Gabriel, was sentenced this week to 30 years to life in prison for molesting a 5-year-old girl at a mall bookstore in Arcadia in 2008.
Wendell Griffith, 35, of Monrovia, a track supervisor who was fired after 2 female employees accused him of sexual harassment, is going to work at the track as a janitor. Background on the case is given.
Gerardo Cortez, 26, of Monrovia, pleads not guilty in threats to shoot students in area schools. He is charged with 6 counts of making false criminal threats and 5 counts of falsely reporting an emergency.
Martin Plourde, Arcadia High School principal, was recognized at last week's meeting of the Arcadia Unified District's Governing Board, for completing a 3-year program sponsored by the School Leadership Academy.