2021 police blotter varied from typical to unusual
by Mick Rhodes | mickrhodes@claremont-courier.com
Sunday, December 5
In a Blotter first, two unrelated drivers who crashed into one another were both suspected of driving under the influence after colliding near Base Line Road and Wiley Ct. Claremont resident Shayne Bigelow, 60, was arrested for felony DUI after police say he crashed his red 2018 Toyota into a grey 2019 Honda piloted by 29-year-old Robert Balcorta, also of Claremont.
Tuesday, November 16
Claremont Police Department dispatch received a call about a fight in progress in one of the motel rooms at the Knight’s Inn, 721 S. Indian Hill Blvd. Responding officers arrived and say they heard loud arguing and a baby screaming in the room. Inside was a 20-year-old Pomona woman with injuries to her upper torso, a 21-year-old man, also from Pomona, and an 18-month-old boy. Police also allegedly found marijuana, a large quantity of an unidentified controlled substance in pill form, cash and scales, indicating the drugs were being packaged for sale. The toddler was taken into the custody of the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services. The man, the child’s father, was arrested on three felony counts of domestic violence, child abuse and possession of narcotics for sale. The woman, his mother, was arrested on felony child abuse and possession of narcotics for sale.
Thursday, November 11
A routine stop for expired registration quickly escalated as a search allegedly uncovered a loaded handgun, a virtual cornucopia of ammunition, cocaine, methamphetamine and a meth pipe. Cops say the driver, Daquisha Johnson, 28, was in possession of meth and a meth pipe. As they were questioning and searching her passenger, 28-year-old Kevin Tes from Las Vegas, they allegedly found he had a baggie of meth, a baggie of cocaine, and a loaded Springfield XD semiautomatic handgun under the seat where he’d been sitting, along with a tactical pouch on the floorboard containing two .223 caliber rifle rounds and a broken .45 caliber handgun magazine. Police also found a green container with 42 .45 caliber bullets in it, and two fully loaded .45 caliber handgun magazines in the glove compartment.
Sunday, October 31
Claremont police pulled over a grey 2018 Chrysler 300 for a traffic violation near Arrow Highway and Mountain Ave. While questioning the driver, 43-year-old Moses Twyman, from Pomona, one of the officers allegedly saw a handgun sticking out of the front passenger seat rear pocket. It turned out to be a “ghost gun,” unregistered and without a serial number. Twyman allegedly told cops he built it himself. Later that morning police stopped a grey 2014 Toyota Camry that had been reported stolen out of Montclair, and the driver, Pomonan Nicolle Gomez, 43, was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, a felony. Her passenger, 43-year-old Robert Bell, was allegedly found to be in possession of another ghost handgun, this one a loaded Glock-style weapon. Later, a Pomona man was arrested on two felony charges after a resident in the 200 block of Carnegie Ave. called police after Julio Izaguirre, 43, allegedly attempted to open the front door of the home and then made his way to the back patio area and took a seat. Arriving police searched Izaguirre, and allegedly found methamphetamine and a loaded .380 caliber handgun. Police say he told them he was lounging in the back yard “trying to clear his head.”
Saturday, October 23
Jason Stearnes, a 35-year-old Pomona man wanted by Claremont PD for multiple felony charges, was found by Downey police after 10 days on the run. He was booked on the felonies of kidnapping, domestic violence, robbery, and evading police. He was held for two days before being released on a $100,000 bond.
Wednesday, October 13
In a Blotter first, a 48-year-old Anaheim man called Claremont police to report he was in his car, drunk, needed help, and didn’t want to cause an accident, essentially asking to be arrested to avoid potential mayhem. The call came in from the Vons parking lot at 550 E. Base Line Rd., and sure enough when officers arrived they found a “heavily intoxicated” Jose Segura Garcia in his parked car. They then complied with Segura Garcia’s request, arresting him for being drunk in public.
Thursday, September 23
Claremont police were looking for a felony car theft suspect who rammed a pair of patrol cars while making a brazen escape as they closed in on him, guns drawn, at 10:15 a.m., at the Claremont Villas Senior Apartments. No officers were injured in the incident, but two police cruisers sustained minor damage. It began when a CPD patrol officer ran the plates of a blue 2012 Hyundai Sonata, and discovered it had been reported stolen. Six other officers then arrived and approached the Hyundai. The suspect then allegedly put the car in reverse and slammed into the front of the two patrol cars parked behind it, then continued to ram and push the police cruisers. He eventually pushed through and took off southbound on Indian Hill Blvd. Officers gave chase, but lost sight of him after he entered the 10 freeway heading west.
Wednesday, August 25
At 1:44 a.m., Claremont Police Department patrol officers stopped the driver of a 2010 Jeep for a traffic violation after the SUV allegedly jumped the median on Towne Ave., just south of Foothill Blvd. After an investigation, they then ended up handcuffing the Jeep’s passenger, Valentino Manriquez, 25, from Pomona, and charging him with driving under the influence of alcohol. Stay with me here: It turned out Mr. Manriquez had been in an argument with the driver, and during said scuffle had allegedly grabbed the wheel and jerked it, causing the Jeep to jump the median. A field sobriety test led police to believe Mr. Manriquez was drunk, and he was arrested for DUI, because for those few seconds he had his hand on that steering wheel, he was allegedly driving drunk.
Monday, July 26
A 43-year-old female victim of domestic violence from Upland was apparently being chased by her suspected assailant, a 45-year-old Fontana man, and made a choice to drive her car at a high rate of speed into the rear parking lot of the Claremont Police Station, 570 W. Bonita Ave., at 10:53 a.m. in an attempt to get away. The suspect followed in his car, creating an unlikely crime scene location at the police station. As one would expect, police were quickly on the scene.
Thursday, March 18
An apparent newbie to the whole crime business who police say had just stolen a tip jar from the nearby Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf location at 101 N. Indian Hill Blvd made a rookie mistake and decided to have a rest on the sidewalk directly in front of the Claremont Police Department offices at 570 W. Bonita Ave. Officers emerging from the station about noon were on their way to the coffee shop to take a report when they noticed a man who matched the description of the alleged thief, Pomonan Juan Diaz de Leon, 34, right there in front of them, and placed him under arrest for misdemeanor theft.
Friday, February 26
In one of the more unusual public intoxication arrests you will ever see, a 26-year-old unhoused man was arrested after providing an unlikely false name and birthdate, and a somewhat bizarre explanation as to why he was lounging on the roof of a house in the 400 block of Springfield Dr. Neighbors called police at 5:30 p.m. to report the man on the roof. Arriving officers say they saw him attempt to hide by lying down. After letting him know they could see him, he was asked what he was doing, and the man allegedly responded that he was “doing surveillance for the C.I.A.” Cops say the man then rolled off the roof and started running. He got about a block away before apparently giving up and lying down in the street in the 200 block of Annapolis Drive. The man then told police he was 38 and provided a false name. They eventually determined his true identity and that he was in fact more than a decade younger than he had claimed. They also discovered the man was under the influence of alcohol, and arrested him for evading a police officer and public intoxication, both misdemeanors.
