Police Blotter: April 12, 2024
by Andrew Alonzo | aalonzo@claremont-courier.com
Monday, April 1
Claremont Police Department officers responded to a 9:30 p.m. call regarding a man removing a screen from a window at a home along the 400 block of north Cambridge Avenue. Police located the man in question, David Garrison, 27, of Claremont, and a records check revealed he had a misdemeanor warrant issued out of San Bernardino County. Garrison was arrested for the warrant and taken to the Claremont jail, where he was booked before being released with a citation to appear at Pomona Superior Court.
Tuesday, April 2
At 2:34 p.m., CPD responded to a call at the Plum Tree Apartments, 284 N. Carnegie Ave., regarding a woman climbing over a back wall of the complex. Police questioned Pomona resident Chanel Alcaraz, 28, along the adjacent railroad tracks and a records check revealed she had two misdemeanor warrants from San Bernardino County, as well as a felony warrant out of Glendora. Alcaraz was arrested and taken to the Claremont jail where she was booked and cited for her misdemeanor warrants. Glendora police then picked her up on the felony warrant.
Wednesday, April 3
Police received a 12:11 a.m. activation from a “bait bike,” a poorly secured bicycle fitted with a tracking device used to catch would-be thieves, that had been placed in the 200 block of First Street. Police found Pomonan Clarence Brown, 33, pushing the bike near the intersection of First Street and Indian Hill Boulevard and detained him. A search of Brown allegedly turned up methamphetamine and a pipe, which added misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance and unlawful paraphernalia to his original charge of felony grand theft. Brown was arrested, taken to CPD for booking before being released with citations to appear at Pomona Superior Court.
Police received an 8:51 p.m. call for service regarding a car with collision damage and a flat tire near the intersection of Foothill and Claremont boulevards. They pulled over 56-year-old Steven Morton, of Montclair. Police alleged Morton showed signs of impairment from a controlled substance and conducted field sobriety tests, which confirmed their suspicions. Morton was arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence, brought to CPD for booking and detoxification, and was later released with a citation to appear in court.
Thursday, April 4
At about 1:30 p.m. on February 8, Claremont police responded to a call from the 200 block of Independence Drive regarding criminal threats and a smashed front door. A previous incident involving the suspect, a 50-year-old unhoused man, alleged he vandalized property in Montclair. Police reported the Montclair victim then told a Claremont resident that the suspect had told them he was planning to go to the Claremont home to kill the resident. Police say the suspect then arrived at the Claremont home and kicked in the resident’s door. Responding officers were unable to locate the suspect. Following coordination with San Bernardino County Probation, who gave CPD information on where the suspect usually parks his vehicle, he was arrested in Fontana early on April 4. He was then transferred to the Claremont jail where he was booked on a felony burglary charge and held for court.
CPD officers responded to a 9:03 a.m. call regarding two people sleeping in the laundry room at Plum Tree Apartments, 284 N. Carnegie Ave. A records check of Cameron Hall, 42, of Claremont, revealed he had an outstanding misdemeanor out of Claremont. Hall was arrested, booked at CPD jail, and issued a citation to appear in court before being released.
Officers responded to the 500 block of San Jose Avenue regarding a family disturbance. A records check of a 48-year-old Covina man showed there was an active restraining order barring him from the residence and an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Pomona. The man was arrested for felony violation of the court order and the warrant and booked at CPD jail, where he was held ahead of his April 8 court date. He posted bond April 5 and was released.
Friday, April 5
Claremont police received multiple calls from Claremont Colleges Campus Safety officers regarding a protest at Pomona College’s Alexander Hall, 550 N. College Ave. At about 4 p.m., campus safety reported approximately 100 to 150 protesters were outside Alexander Hall, while another 30 to 40 protesters were inside the building, with some inside the president’s office refusing to leave. At about 5:30 p.m., at the request of campus safety, officers from Claremont and surrounding agencies responded to the location. After police spoke with a spokesperson for the protesters about half of them left the building. Police report they gave the remaining protesters a specific time at which they had to be out of the president’s office, but they again refused to leave. Nineteen were then arrested for misdemeanor trespassing: Tali Maximon, 22, Olivia Bozzo, 22, Amanda Dym, 21, Analise Pugh, 20, Eunice Kim, 20, Elinor Attisani, 20, Melia Oliver, 22, Miller Simon, 19, Matthew Njue, 19, Sathyagopal Siddapureddy, 21, Jacob Ragaza, 19, Alice Chapman, 18, Andrea Siame, 21, Mikayla Kidd, 21, Marissa Woodworth, 20, Julianna Deibel, 22, Sophie Kim, 23, Krasimir Staykov, 20, and Diana Truong, 21. Another student, Sara Orr, 21, was arrested for obstructing and delaying an officer. Eight of the protestors were students from Scripps College, seven from Pomona College and five from Pitzer College. All were transported to the CPD jail, where they were booked and released with citations to appear in court. During the course of the arrestee’s booking process, a large crowd gathered outside CPD demanding the release of the arrestees, prompting a lockdown of the facility. No arrests were made during the second protest at CPD.
Sunday, April 7
Around 1:26 p.m., police received a call regarding a car driving erratically in the area of Padua Avenue and Mount Baldy Road. Officers located a car matching the description allegedly speeding southbound on Padua. Attempts to pull over the driver, Montclair resident Arnoldo Valencia, 34, were unsuccessful, leading to a pursuit. Valencia then allegedly ran a red light and collided with another car, which disabled his vehicle just south of Foothill Boulevard. Police then discovered a child in the car. They suspected Valencia was under the influence, which subsequent field sobriety tests allegedly confirmed. A records check of an adult passenger, Christopher Valencia, 29, also from Montclair, found an outstanding misdemeanor warrant from Pomona. Both men were arrested and transported to CPD for booking. Christopher Valencia was released with a citation to appear in court. Arnoldo Valencia was charged withfelony DUI, hit and run, and child endangerment, as well as misdemeanor evading a peace officer, operating a vehicle without an interlock device, and driving on a suspended license. He was transferred to the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic, where he remained in custody in front of an April 23 court appearance.
