Joshua Parra-Davis, 23, of Arcadia, was allegedly found with a bomb after visiting Foothills Middle School on January 14, 2011. He will face four felony counts of possession of a destructive or explosive device. He is being held at Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic, and due back at Pasadena Superior Court on June 15 to enter a plea. If convicted of all four felony counts, he could face up to 19 years in prison.
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.
Joshua Martin Parra-Davis, 23, of Arcadia, pleaded not guilty in Pasadena Superior Court, to charges of possessing and leaving an explosive device in a backpack near a bank on Foothill Boulevard in Arcadia, on Friday, January 14, 2011. He is charged with four felony counts, including possession of a destructive device near a school. Parra-Davis, a former Foothills Middle School student, was seen opening a classroom door last Friday and then later was seen dropping the backpack into some bushes. The bag contained what appeared to be a homemade explosive.
Gerardo Cortez, 26, of Monrovia was arrested for allegedly making telephone threats to shoot adults and children with an AK-47 at schools (including Arcadia High School), a mall, and hospitals in the San Gabriel Valley last week. See also Mountain Views News, September 14, 2013, p. 1.
Monrovia man Gerardo Cortez, 26, was arrested for allegedly making telephone threats to shoot adults and children with an assault rifle at schools (including Arcadia High School), the Westfield Santa Anita mall, and a hospital in the San Gabriel Valley last week. He was booked at Monrovia Police Department for five counts of felony Making Criminal Threats and five counts of False Report of an Emergency. He is to be arraigned today. See also Mountain Views News, September 14, 2013, p. 1.
A woman in her 60s turned in a grenade she found, in the garage of her former home in Glassell Park, to Arcadia Police. She is staying with friends in Arcadia. The explosive device was a live World War I hand grenade called a "Mills Bomb" commonly used by British military from 1915-1970s. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's bomb squad detonated the grenade on the lawn of the Arcadia Police Department, after placing it in a hole several feet deep with sandbags. Police advise anyone who finds an explosive device to not move it, but leave it in place and call the police.
Los Angeles County Mayor Michael D. Antonovich urged Southern California Edison (SCE) to restore power now to San Gabriel Valley residents that lost power in last week's windstorm.
Resident David Fong and Arcadia Police Chief Robert Guthrie address recent Arcadia school lockdowns. Highland Oaks School had been put on lockdown while Arcadia police searched for suspects in a residential robbery. Arcadia Unified School District has only one school resource officer and Fong asked the city to seriously consider additional safety measures at Arcadia schools.
Experts say fierce Santa Ana winds will return this week. Last week a brutal windstorm ripped through Southern California, leaving dozens of homes uninhabitable and toppled hundreds of trees in the San Gabriel Valley. Arcadia Unified School District is scheduled to open all its campuses today except Highland Oaks and Longley Way Elementary Schools.
Arcadia, Monrovia, and Duarte schools all forced to lock down this week due to phoned in threats of a gunman on 4 separate campuses. On Thursday, September 12, the caller contacted Arcadia Police Department, reporting "he was at Arcadia High School and that he was going to start shooting students with an assault rifle." A second call was received during the police search of the campus that told officers to back off or they would be shot. No suspects of weapons were found.
Gerardo Cortez arraignment postponed to October 4, 2013. He allegedly made a series of threats to several San Gabriel Valley locations. He has a history of making false bomb threats.
Afternoon for young inventors at NASA's JPL at the Annual Invention Challenge. Shown in photo Arcadia High School student Taesong Hwang. Arcadia High School's team entered a water conveyor transport system in the contest.
A new Arcadia Police Officer Sergio Machado is ready to protect and serve Arcadia. He had his ceremonial badge pinning last week after completing his 18-month probationary period.
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.
Arcadia High School graduate Mano "Paul" Kamaleson, age 55, was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan this week. His sister Ruth Loisel still lives in Arcadia.
Arcadia High School was locked down by Arcadia police for several hours on Tuesday, November 1. A note received by high school officials indicated that people would be killed on the campus that day. Students were released without incident. The investigation led Arcadia police to Holly Avenue Elementary School, which was on lockdown as well.
A video created by three Arcadia High School graduates went viral and brought people to a school board meeting alst week, in support of fired cross country coach James O'Brien. The creators of the video are Esmond Wei, Ben Hsueh, and Sergio Rodriguez. The video was posted on YouTube.com and had more than 10,000 views in three days. A week later, it had more than 16,000 views.
An 81-year-old West Covina man, Hao Liang, was struck and killed by a car when he was walking across Santa Anita Avenue, south of Duarte Road, last Wednesday, December 18, approximately 5:36 PM, at La Sierra Drive. The driver was a 36-year-old Monterey Park woman.