Peter Chang, 60, of Long Beach, admitted in court that he shot his estranged wife, Liya ("Sandy") Lu, 32, in front of her Arcadia home on Bonita Street. He was immediately sentenced to 29 years to life in prison. The murder occurred on January 27, 2008.
Former Arcadia Catholic school teacher Elohim D'Leon released from jail. He was arrested last Thursday on suspicion of 10 counts of lewd acts on a child younger than 14 years old committed in 2003-2004 while he was a music teacher at Epiphany Catholic School in South El Monte. He worked at Holy Angels School in Arcadia 2004-2013. The investigation is continuing.
Dwight Chang of Arcadia is owner of a house on the 1300 block of South Palm Avenue in San Gabriel. The building has been operating as a makeshift maternity ward with 10 newborns and about 12 Chinese nationals, crammed into an illegally converted townhouse. Chang has been warned twice before for operating a business that primarily caters to Asian "maternity tourists." Chang denied any wrongdoing and was fined $800 for building code violations. Children born on American soil automatically become United States citizens, under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. Maternity tourism caters to wealthy Taiwanese, Chinese and Koreans. Throughout the past decade, similar set-ups have been uncovered in Rowland Heights, Hacienda Heights, New York, and Quebec.
Caltech graduate Tyler Johnson, who had been identified as a suspect in the firebombing and vandalism of more than 130 sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at automobile dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley in 2003, has died in an avalanche while hiking in the Corsian mountains in France on December 26, 2009. Johnson has been a fugitive for the past six years. Surveillance cameras captured Johnson and William ("Billy") Cottrell spray painting environmental slogans on the cars at Rusnak Mercedes Benz in Arcadia in 2003. Cottrell was convicted.
The 2001 murder of grocer Adel Karas, a 48-year old Egyptian man from Arcadia, a few days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, was initially thought to have been a hate crime. He was shot at his store International Market at 1381 E. Last Tunas in San Gabriel. Now police suspect Adel Karas was the victim of extortion. The suspects are two Latinos in their mid-20s.
Twenty-five year old Matthew Fay Echauri of Arcadia, has been found guilty of brutally stabbing his 18-year-old girlfriend in Temple City two years ago. He was found guilty of four felony counts: one count of attempted murder, one count of mayhem, two counts of dissuading a witness from reporting a crime with force and violence. He is scheduled to be sentenced March 12.
Arcadia man Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, 37, pleaded not guilty to fatally hitting 21-year-old road worker Connor McDermott Penhall, in Pomona Superior Court yesterday. The crash happened April 4, 2012, when Sakamoto allegedly drove onto a closed part of the 10 Freeway in Baldwin Park, while drunk. He will next appear in court June 27 to set a date for his preliminary hearing.
Tatsuhiko Sakamoto, 37 of Arcadia, was charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, felony drunken driving and driving with a blood-alcohol level above .08. He allegedly drove onto a closed freeway in Baldwin Park while drunk and killed a 21-year-old road worker named Connor McDermott Penhall. Penhall is son of hall of fame motorcycle racer and actor Bruce Penhall.
A jury convicts Isaac Campbell, 37, of voluntary manslaughter in the death of his girlfriend Liya "Jessie" Lu, whose body was found in a trash can, covered with kitty litter, at Campbell's friend's house in the 1700 block of South Baldwin Avenue in Arcadia, in 2007.
Man gets 64 years for sexually assaulting three workers at Westfield Santa Anita in Arcadia. Diego Cervantes, 37, of San Gabriel is a former maintenance supervisor at the mall. He was found guilty of rape and other sexual offenses.
Steve and Yan-Fen Lin, a couple possibly of Arcadia, have been running the illegally modified townhome in San Gabriel, owned by Dwight Chang of Arcadia, as a maternity home for Asian tourists. They violated building codes for setting up a makeshift maternity ward.
23-year-old Arcadia man Joshua Martin Parra-Davis was booked by Arcadia Police on suspicion of possessing an explosive device and leaving it in a backpack near a Bank of America on Foothill Boulevard on Friday, January 14, 2011. Witnesses said Parra-Davis first went to Foothills Middle School and may have been trying to open classrooms when he was confronted and ran off. The suspect was then seen dropping a backpack in bushes near the Bank of America and then running through the parking lot, where officers detained him. Arcadia Police called the bomb squad. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Bob Squad successfully detonated the device. Parra-Davis could be arranged in Pasadena Court today.
The body of missing Arcadia firefighter Mike Herdman was found by rescuers in the Sespe Wilderness yesterday. He went missing June 13. Cause of death is pending an autopsy. Herdman would have turned 37 tomorrow. He is survived by a wife and 6-year-old daughter.
Arcadia couple Edward Chen, aka Jianqiao Chen, Jian Qiao Chen, and Jian Chen aka Jing Jiang and Jean Jiang, accused of fraud involving defrauding investors through EB-5 visa schemes. The couple's companies raised more than $22.5 million from 45 Chinese investors, purportedly to build an interior design center in Ontario and a condominium building in Los Angeles. See also "Arcadia couple faces court hearing for stealing $12 million," Arcadia Weekly, p. 1,3 October 5, 2017.
Two Arcadia homes found by Arcadia Police Department to be used for indoor marijuana growing operations in the 1800 block of South Baldwin Avenue and the 300 block of West Woodruff Avenue. Gao Ming, 46-year-old male from Arcadia, Jia Hui Shen, 27-year-old male from El Monte, and Lan Lau, a 34-year-old female from Arcadia, were arrested and booked at Arcadia City Jail.