Police Blotter: July 30, 2021
by Mick Rhodes | mickrhodes@claremont-courier.com
Tuesday, July 20
Sometime before 8:50 p.m., one of Claremont’s trusty license plate reader cameras picked up a white 2006 Chevy Silverado truck that had recently been reported stolen. Claremont Police Department officers on patrol located the truck at 320 E. Foothill Blvd., near Towne Ave., and pulled over the driver, Jesus Lopez, a 29-year-old Pomona man. Mr. Lopez was then arrested without incident for two felonies: car theft, and possession of stolen vehicle, before being booked and released with a citation to appear in Pomona Superior Court.
Wednesday, July 21
Claremont police responding to a 3:16 p.m. call from All American Mini Storage, 711 S. Mills Ave., questioned 54-year-old Upland resident David Joseph. It turned out Mr. Joseph had recently been evicted from the storage facility, and the owner had called police in an effort to compel him to leave. Mr. Joseph was reportedly uncooperative, and during a search police allegedly found a brown liquid substance, later determined to be PCP, and a glass pipe. He was then arrested for resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia, and possession of a controlled substance, all misdemeanors. He was booked and released with a citation.
Friday, July 23
Police were called to the office building at 230 W. First St. at 11:23 p.m. on a suspicious person call. During questioning of Derek Quinonez, 24, from West Covina, arriving officers allegedly found he had severely damaged a metal door at the property. They also say they found Mr. Quinonez to be in possession of a methamphetamine pipe. He was arrested for vandalism and possession of drug paraphernalia, both misdemeanors, booked, and released with a citation to appear in Pomona court.
An evening DUI checkpoint at Claremont Blvd. and Foothill Blvd. netted two arrests, including an extreme Blotter rarity: an out of state felony extradition warrant.
The first arrest took place at 9:50 p.m. when police say Upland resident Phillip Apolinar, 27, presented an expired Texas driver’s license. They then waived his 2002 brown Chevy truck over for a secondary inspection. A records check then turned up a felony “armed and dangerous” warrant out of Texas for an assault with a deadly weapon charge. The unusual warrant also had an extradition component. Mr. Apolinar was arrested—thankfully without incident—booked, issued a citation for the expired license, and then transferred to the Inmate Reception Center in Downtown Los Angeles to await extradition to Texas.
Just 15 minutes later, at 10:05 p.m., Sarieta Walker, from South Bend, Indiana, was making her way through the checkpoint in her white 2011 Chevy Tahoe when police flagged her and sent her to secondary inspection. Officers suspected she was driving while under the influence of alcohol, and conducted a field sobriety test, which they say Ms. Walker failed. She was arrested for misdemeanor drunk driving, booked, and spend the night sobering up in the Claremont jail before being released in the early morning hours with a citation to appear in Pomona Superior Court.
Sunday, July 25
Claremont cops on patrol at 11:28 p.m. near the corner of Padua Ave. and Pomello Dr. pulled over a 2009 Chevy Malibu for a having no front license plate. The driver, Hector Espinoza-Avendano, 32, from Pomona, allegedly admitted to officers he’d been smoking methamphetamine while driving, a contention further enhanced by the meth pipe police say was resting on his lap. Mr. Espinoza-Avendano submitted to a field sobriety test that he allegedly failed, and he was arrested for DUI. Then, a search of his car allegedly turned up some methamphetamine powder in a coin compartment in the dashboard, and a loaded American Tactical Titan 45 caliber handgun. That last finding changed what would have been a misdemeanor DUI charge to a felony: possession of a firearm while in possession of narcotics. He was booked and spent the rest of his night and early morning detoxing in the Claremont jail before being released with a citation to appear for two misdemeanors, possession of drug paraphernalia and DUI, and the felony gun/narcotics charge.
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. They took a statement from the victim, who said she’d been trying to get away from the man, who was under a court issued restraining order to keep away from her due to previous incidents of domestic violence. The man told police he was “trying to give his girlfriend a ride home, but she ran away from him in her car.” The story wasn’t enough to keep him from being arrested on the misdemeanor charge of violating the court order. He was booked and held in jail before posting a $20,000 bond pending his upcoming arraignment in Pomona court.
Claremont police were called to Mt. Baldy Rd. at 11:49 a.m. regarding a woman laying on ground in the roadway near Padua Ave. Arriving officers questioned the Katherine Moore, 55, from Riverside, who told them she had a methamphetamine pipe on her. Additionally, a records check revealed an outstanding misdemeanor warrant out of Pomona. Ms. Moore was arrested on a misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia charge, and for the warrant. She was booked and released with a citation to appear.
Tuesday, July 27
Police conducting an 8:40 p.m. welfare check at Knight’s Inn, 721 S. Indian Hill Blvd., found a guest registered to one of the rooms, 42-year-old Pomonan Robert Gonzalez, had a no-bail felony warrant out of San Bernardino County and a misdemeanor warrant from Orange County. They located him inside his room, and he was arrested without incident. Mr. Gonzalez was then booked and issued a citation for the two warrants before being transported to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga to face a judge on the no-bail felony warrant.
