Police blotter 5-28-21
Wednesday, May 19
At 7:01 p.m., Claremont Police Department officers were once again summoned to the Motel 6 at 840 S. Indian Hill Blvd. This time it was regarding a loud argument underway in an upstairs walkway. While en route, they learned the confrontation had turned physical, and that 41-year-old Oakland resident Luqman Rahmaan allegedly had a 54-year-old unhoused man pinned against a wall. As police arrived they say Mr. Rahmaan “violently threw” the unhoused man down a flight of stairs. The unhoused man suffered a head injury as a result of the fall, and was transported to Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center for treatment. Mr. Rahmaan, a black man, said the confrontation began after the unhoused man had knocked on his motel room door, asking to come inside. Presumably annoyed, Mr. Rahmaan stepped outside, where he said the unhoused man used racial epithets, which served to escalate the confrontation. Mr. Rahmaan was arrested for felony assault with a deadly weapon—his hands and fists—likely to cause great bodily injury. He spent the next two days in the Claremont jail before appearing for his arraignment in Pomona Municipal Court on May 21.
Porch pirate apprehended
An alert resident said a man stole a package off a front porch in the 800 block of Butte St. at 10:48 p.m. after allegedly witnessing the crime on the home’s surveillance camera. Police were called, and arriving officers quickly located suspects Cassondra Rodriguez, 28, and Frankie Medina, 21, both from Pomona. Mr. Medina was charged with two misdemeanors: theft and possession of stolen property; Ms. Rodriguez was charged with two misdemeanors as well: possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a meth pipe.
Thursday, May 20
A pair of would-be car thieves were nabbed early Thursday after a private company monitoring surveillance footage at Claremont Toyota, 601 Auto Center Dr., alerted police to a car theft in progress. Cops were called by the security company at 1:27 a.m., and were on the scene in just two minutes. There they quickly located suspects Ryan Valdovinos, 19, from La Puente, and a 15-year-old girl from Pomona, in the alley on the south side of nearby Super King market. The pair told police they found a new car’s key and key fob on the ground of the parking lot. But surveillance footage allegedly showed otherwise. Police say the pair can be seen breaking a window of one of the cars on the lot, where they somehow opened a lock box inside, and attempted to start the car. But the battery was dead, as were the pair’s chances of driving off with a new Toyota. They allegedly then attempted to break the window of a second car, but could not shatter the glass. Police arrived shortly thereafter and found the pair behind the Super King, where Mr. Valdovinos was allegedly in possession of the purloined key and key fob. Police then used the fob to “cherp” the lot, eventually revealing the vandalized car. Both suspects were charged with two felonies: burglary and attempted car theft. The juvenile was booked and released into the custody of her parents. Mr. Valdovinos was booked and released with a citation to appear in Pomona court.
Garage burglarized…twice on same night
A man who had his garage burglarized twice in one night had a stroke of good luck when he stopped to get gas later in the day and recognized the two suspects sitting nearby. The unlikely turn of events began May 19, when two suspects, a 32-year-old unhoused man and Elizabeth Freeman, 43, from Upland, allegedly broke a lock on the victim’s garage in the 500 block of south Indian Hill Blvd. between 10:27 and 10:38 p.m. and stole some tools. The pair then took a break before allegedly returning to rob the garage a second time at 3:33 a.m. on the 20th. The victim then accessed video surveillance through an app on his cell phone and provided Claremont police with a description of the perpetrators. Later that day, at 3:59 p.m., the victim pulled his car into the Chevron station at 860 S. Indian Hill Blvd. and recognized the suspected thieves sitting nearby. He called police, who arrived and arrested the pair on one felony burglary count each.
Domestic violence arrest
A 57-year-old Claremont woman called police at 4:30 p.m. to report her boyfriend, also 57, had assaulted her at the home they shared in the 600 block of Montgomery Circle. Police arrived and arrested the man for misdemeanor domestic violence and for violating a restraining order, which allowed for “peaceful contact” between the two. The victim said the man had shoved her. She did not display any visible injuries, police said. The suspect spent the weekend in the Claremont jail before appearing May 24 for his arraignment in Pomona court.
Monday, May 24
A passerby flagged down police at 1 a.m. to report a man vandalizing the Western Dental building at 740 S. Indian Hill Blvd. Police quickly located Willie Underwood, 45, from Claremont. They say Mr. Underwood admitted to using a rock or his fist to punch a hole in a window at the dental office, and video surveillance footage allegedly showed same. A records check also turned up an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of San Bernardino County. As Mr. Underwood was being arrested for the warrant and misdemeanor vandalism and being put into the police car, they say he began struggle with officers. So, in addition to the warrant and the new charge, he was also charged with misdemeanor resisting arrest. He was eventually transported, and nobody was injured.
Tuesday, May 25
The same 32-year-old unhoused man who was arrested for felony burglary on May 20 was apparently at it again, this time allegedly taking a backpack from a car in the 600 block of south Indian Hill Blvd. Police say the man and a 25-year-old unhoused man were seen by a passerby taking the backpack at 1 a.m. The witness called police, who arrived at 1:03 a.m. The 32-year-old took off running, as did the 25-year-old, heading south on Indian Hill Blvd., with police in pursuit on foot. The chase ended in minutes, about 150 yards away behind a business in the 600 block of S. Indian Hill Blvd. A records check revealed an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Glendora, and he was arrested for that and misdemeanor resisting arrest. He was booked and released with a citation to appear, but not before identifying the other suspect as the 32-year-old unhoused man. At 6:06 a.m. a CPD officer doing an area check at College Park, 100 S. College Ave., recognized a man sleeping on a bench as the 32-year-old unhoused man wanted from the incident earlier that morning. He was allegedly still in possession of the stolen backpack, which contained personal belongings and medications. He was arrested for misdemeanor possession of stolen property, booked and released with a notice to appear in Pomona court.
