Police Blotter: March 11, 2022
Tuesday, March 2
An opportunistic thief apparently hit the smash and grab jackpot after breaking a window of a 2010 Lexus and making off with more than $9,000 in goods and cash. Claremont Police took a report from a 42-year-old La Verne woman, who said her car’s window was smashed sometime between 9 and 10:45 a.m. at the north parking lot of the Claremont Wilderness Park, in the 4000 block of north Mills Ave., while she was hiking the trail. Taken was an extensive list of designer and luxury items, including a Louis Vuitton handbag valued at $2,100; Apple AirPods worth $120; an iPad Pro valued at $1,200; two iPhones, $1,800; a Gucci Supreme chain wallet, $1,500; a Coach wristlet, $100; a Kate Spade bag, $75; miscellaneous jewelry, $100; an Apple Pencil, $150; an Apple keyboard, $300; a Kate Spade wallet, $200; Tiffany sunglasses, $225; various gift cards worth $125; $120 in cash; credit cards; a checkbook; and a Covid vaccination card. Police have no suspects and no evidence to connect someone to the crime. They are asking the public to call (909) 399-5411 with any information that might help.
Claremont police responded to a 3:20 p.m. report of a person believed to be under the influence of a drug at College Park, 126 S. College Ave. There they found a 36-year-old unhoused man and determined he was not under the influence, but a records check revealed a no-bail felony probation violation warrant for his arrest out of San Bernardino County. The man was then arrested, booked, and later transported to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.
Officers on patrol at 10:24 p.m. noticed a bicyclist traveling near Indian Hill Blvd. and Arrow Hwy., allegedly without a headlight, and pulled him over. A records check of the rider, Raul Serratos, 37, from Pomona, revealed a misdemeanor arrest warrant out of Los Angeles County. A subsequent search then allegedly turned up a glass methamphetamine pipe and two small bags containing meth. Serratos was arrested on two new misdemeanor charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, and for the warrant. He was booked and released with two citations to appear in court.
Friday, March 4
Surveillance cameras at Claremont Toyota, 601 Auto Center Dr., picked up a man walking the car lot at 1:05 a.m., and security guards called CPD. Arriving officers found 33-year-old Pomona resident Toby Granados, and questioned him. A records check revealed an active probation violation warrant out of LA County, and he was arrested on that open charge, booked, and held for court in the Claremont jail. Granados saw a Pomona Superior Court judge on Monday, March 7.
At 5:30 p.m., CPD received a call from 63-year-old Claremont resident on Bryn Mawr Rd., alleging his son, had attacked him with a samurai sword, resulting in injuries to his hands and chest. Arriving officers investigated and determined a verbal argument — reportedly over whether the front door of the home the father and son shared should be locked or unlocked when they leave the house — had escalated, prompting the son to allegedly pick up the sword and swing it at his father, resulting in lacerations to both his hands and the left side of his ribcage. The son was arrested, charged with felony assault with a deadly weapon causing great bodily injury. He also had an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of San Bernardino County. The father was treated at the scene by L.A. County Fire Department paramedics, but reportedly refused to be transported to a hospital. Narama was booked at CPD headquarters and held in the Claremont jail before appearing before a Pomona Superior Court judge on Tuesday, March 8.
Saturday, March 5
Cops responded to an 8:37 p.m. call about a speeding car headed up toward the top floor of the parking structure at 470 W. First St. On scene they say they found a group of eight people all holding colorful balloons, with several open containers of alcohol placed on top of the various cars. Officers allegedly noticed a yellow tank of nitrous oxide in plain sight on the floorboard of a 2022 Nissan belonging to Hector Reyes, 18, from Pomona. Reyes allegedly admitted the tank was his, and he was arrested for inhaling a toxic substance, a misdemeanor. Officers didn’t find anyone else in the group who was under the influence of nitrous, or laughing gas. Reyes was transported, booked and released with a citation to appear in court.
Sunday, March 6
A 24-year-old man wanted for felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor willful cruelty to a child was back in custody after Pomona police picked up Joseph Miera on an unrelated charge and discovered the active Claremont warrant for his arrest. The Pomona man’s current legal problems actually began at 12:11 p.m. December 29, 2021, when an ex-girlfriend called Claremont police from the Knight’s Inn motel, 721 S. Indian Hill Blvd., reporting Miera was outside her room and was refusing to leave. Arriving officers did a records check and discovered Miera had an active Pomona Police Department arrest warrant. As they attempted to detain him on the warrant, they say he pulled away and physically resisted. Miera was eventually taken into custody on the warrant and a new misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest, booked at the CPD station, and released with two citations to appear in court. If the story had ended there, everyone would have been a lot better off. But it didn’t. Police say Miera returned to the Knight’s Inn at 3:41 p.m., forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s room, and allegedly refused to let her or her two minor children leave. The mother managed to once again call CPD, who arrived and again took Miera into custody, this time for felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor willful cruelty to a child. He was booked, again, and this time jailed, where he was held in front of a Monday, January 3 arraignment in Pomona Superior Court. Following that proceeding he was ordered back to court, but did not show up. A bench warrant was issued, and that’s the instrument Pomona police used to arrest Miera on March 6 before turning him over to CPD, who picked him up at 3:20 p.m. from PPD headquarters, 490 W. Mission Blvd. Miera was held overnight in the Claremont jail before appearing back in Pomona court March 7.
Claremont police are investigating a brazen robbery at Super King Market, 436 Auto Center Dr., that left a clerk shaken after allegedly being threatened with a large knife. Witnesses say two men and one woman entered the store at 7:52 p.m. Two suspects went to the liquor room, and the third stayed at the door, reportedly acting as a lookout. The suspects allegedly took six bottles of liquor, and as the clerk confronted the trio at the door, one of them reportedly took out a large knife, pointed it at the employee and then lunged toward him. All three suspects are Black and in their mid-20s. Police are investigating, hoping to identify a suspect soon. If anyone has any information that may be helpful, please call CPD at (909) 399-5411.
