Police Blotter 10-30-20

by Mick Rhodes | mickrhodes@claremont-courier.com

Wednesday, October 21

The Claremont Police Department received at 7 a.m. call regarding a man sleeping on the upstairs balcony of a business at 324 N. Indian Hill Blvd. Arriving officers questioned a 34-year-old homeless man and discovered he had 10 warrants out for his arrest in La Verne, Pasadena and San Bernardino County. He was arrested on the warrants, booked and released to La Verne police, who took him into custody on the warrants from their jurisdiction.

Thursday, October 22

An Ontario man, Oscar Canavasquez, had a crummy celebration after being arrested for being under the influence of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia on the day of his 29th birthday. Claremont cops patrolling at 2:50 a.m. near Sanamluang Thai Cuisine, 710 S. Indian Hill Blvd., noticed Mr. Canavasquez nearby. During a conversation they determined he was under the influence of a central nervous system stimulant, and a search allegedly turned up a methamphetamine pipe. He was booked and spent the rest of his birthday morning detoxing in the Claremont jail, before being released with citation for the two misdemeanor charges.

Cops patrolling at 4:30 a.m. near the Chevron station at 267 S. Indian Hill Blvd. noticed a woman on the west side of the closed business. The 44-year-old homeless woman was allegedly in possession of meth, and a records check revealed a felony grand theft auto warrant in Claremont. She was arrested for possession of a controlled substance.

Claremont police received a call at 11:40 a.m. regarding a man “yelling and possibly throwing rocks” at the 76 station at Foothill Boulevard and Towne Avenue. Cops arrived and found Richard Dimas, 24, from Fresno, whom they say was acting erratically. Mr. Dimas allegedly admitted to smoking meth earlier in the day. He was arrested for the misdemeanor charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance.

A Memphis, Tennessee woman who allegedly used someone else’s Hilton Honors account to rack up $2,900 in charges at the DoubleTree, 555 W. Foothill Blvd., was arrested after the hotel’s fraud department called Claremont PD to report the scheme. Cops arrived at 2:15 p.m.,  confronted Cheyenne Derrick, 21, and arrested her without incident. Ms. Derrick rented a room after allegedly hacking into the victim’s rewards account and adding her own information. It’s alleged she then made various charges to the account. She was arrested for felony identity theft, booked, and released with a citation to appear in Pomona Superior Court.

A septuagenarian car thief was arrested yet again for felony grand theft auto after Claremont Police ran the plate of a 2014 Chevy Malibu, discovered it had been reported stolen, and pulled over the driver, James Wallace, 76, from Pomona at 3 p.m. near Foothill Blvd. and Towne Ave. Mr. Wallace, on probation for a previous car theft conviction, was booked and released with a citation to appear in court to answer for the new felony charge.

Friday, October 23

Zakiya McPhatter, 19, from San Diego was arrested at 3:20 a.m. at Denny’s, 820 S. Indian Hill Blvd., after patrolling Claremont cops noticed her sitting in the driver’s seat of her Mercedes, which was parked diagonally in a handicapped spot with no handicapped placards displayed. A records check turned up a felony no-bail warrant out of San Diego County, and Ms. McPhatter was subsequently arrested, booked, and held for a time in the Claremont jail before being transferred to the Century Regional Detention Facility, a woman’s jail in Lynwood, where she would await a bus ride to San Diego County. 

Saturday, October 24

Claremont Police detectives believe they found their man after the arrest of 49-year-old La Verne resident Martin Lipperman Jr. for felony auto burglary. It began after a woman called CPD at 8 a.m. October 14 from the 500 block of west Base Line Road to report someone had smashed a window of her car and stolen her purse, which contained a wallet, cash, and credit and debit cards. Detectives conducted an investigation and identified Mr. Lipperman as their suspect. At 9:40 a.m. on October 24, Claremont police pulled over Mr. Lipperman’s Toyota Corolla and arrested him without incident on the felony charge. Cops say a search of his car turned up some of the victim’s stolen property.

Sunday, October 25

A Pomona woman was picked up for driving under the influence of alcohol at 1:40 a.m., spent the morning in Claremont jail, and was arrested again later that evening for public intoxication. Cristina Rodriguez, 37, from Pomona, was pulled over by Claremont cops at 1:40 a.m. near Monte Vista Ave. and Base Line Road. They say she showed symptoms of being drunk, so they arrested her for driving under the influence of alcohol and for driving with a suspended license. After sleeping it off, she was released in the morning with a citation to appear in Pomona court. Then at 6:50 p.m., officers responding to a call about a voluble argument between a man and a woman at Motel 6, 840 S. Indian Hill Blvd., found Ms. Rodriguez and an unidentified man to be the source of the disturbance. Claremont cops allege that she was drunk, so she was arrested again and spent most of the evening sobering up, again in the Claremont jail, before being released in the wee hours without charges.