Police blotter: May 27, 2022
Monday, May 16
What began as a routine arrest of a known trespasser and restraining order violator quickly turned serious when a 32-year-old unhoused man told police there was a bindle of fentanyl inside the abandoned commercial building in which he’d been squatting. The incident began after an officer conducting extra patrol in the area noticed a candle burning in an upstairs room in the vacant building in the 400 block of W. Arrow Hwy., then saw a man walk past the window at 6:23 p.m. Additional CPD officers then responded, and despite repeated calls to come out, the man — whom police knew from three arrests this year and six in 2021 for violating a restraining order at the location due to a relative’s home being nearby — refused.
After some admittedly profane cajoling from a detective, the man was persuaded to emerge. He was then arrested once again, and while he was being placed in the back of a police car, allegedly told an officer there was an open bindle of fentanyl on a desk in the upstairs room. This triggered a call to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, who set up at a safe distance away, along with paramedics and an ambulance, just in case somebody was poisoned by the deadly synthetic drug, which is 100 times more powerful than morphine. Two officers and a sergeant, all wearing N95 masks and other PPE, including double gloves, then went into the building, where they in fact found two bindles of a substance they presumed to be fentanyl, and a pipe.
The officers then carefully collected the fentanyl — with the sergeant alongside them armed with doses of the opiate overdose reversing drug Narcan — and took them into evidence. The unhoused man was charged with trespassing, violation of a restraining order, and possession of a controlled substance, all misdemeanors. He was booked and held for court, where he appeared for his arraignment on May 18.
Tuesday, May 17
Claremont police on patrol at 1:56 p.m. in the 600 block of E. Base Line Rd. noticed a shirtless man seated on the sidewalk. He was also missing a shoe, and his belongings were scattered on the grass nearby. They questioned the 49-year-old unhoused man, and a records check revealed no-bail parole violation warrant out of San Bernardino County. He was then arrested, booked at the station, then transferred to the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga to await a court date.
Thursday, May 19
In an extension of the May 12 crime suppression detail near “motel row,” at Indian Hill Blvd. and the 10 Freeway, Claremont police on patrol at 2:33 a.m. reportedly saw a white 2014 Nissan Sentra that had just exited the westbound 10 Freeway and headed north on Indian Hill Blvd. did not have a front license plate. They made a traffic stop near Georgia Ct. and Vista Dr., and as they approached the car allegedly smelled a strong odor of alcohol and saw several open beer bottles in plain view on the floorboard. A records check of the five people in the car revealed 33-year-old Fontana resident Juan Bautista had three active arrest warrants from Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties: and Oscar Nieves, 30, also from Fontana, had two San Bernardino warrants.
Another passenger, 30-year-old Colton man Eduardo Aguayo, allegedly told officers he had a handgun on him as he stepped out of the car. Once he was placed in handcuffs, police say they located a partially loaded Glock 22 .40 caliber handgun, which turned out to be registered to Aguayo, stuffed in his waistband, and a 10-round magazine in his right boot containing three rounds. He was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon in a car, a felony. The driver was found not to be under the influence of alcohol, and was not charged. Bautista, Nieves and Aguayo were transported to CPD headquarters, where they were booked and released with citations to appear in Pomona Superior Court.
At 11:25 a.m., married couple Christopher Agnew and Jessica Agnew, 38 and 35, respectively, walked into the lobby of the Claremont Police Department building accompanied by a bail bondswoman. The couple then surrendered on San Bernardino County felony warrants for their arrest related to conspiracy to commit a crime charges that allegedly occurred in their hometown of Victorville sometime prior. They were arrested, booked, and were each released on $50,000 bond and a date with a judge at San Bernardino County Court in Rancho Cucamonga.
Saturday, May 21
A 44-year-old Pomona woman called Claremont police at 1:35 a.m. to report she had just been assaulted and robbed. Pamela Brown-Crane told arriving officers that after withdrawing $640 from a Bank of America ATM located adjacent to Stater Bros., 1055 W. Foothill Blvd., she got in her car and drove north on Regis Ave., where she saw a purse on in the street in front of the Claremont Swim Club, at 1404 N. Regis Ave. She said she then stopped her car, got out, and a man appeared, approached her, and demanded money. After she refused, she told officers the man — whom she described as black, in his 30s, approximately five-feet 10 inches tall and weighing about 170 lbs. — punched her in her right eye and cheek, ripped her shirt, and removed the $640 from inside the left cup of her bra.
The man then got away on foot, heading north on Regis Ave., the woman said. Anyone who may have seen someone watching Brown-Crane at the ATM, or witnessed the alleged crime, is asked to call CPD at (909) 399-5411 to provide any details that may help with the investigation.
Monday, May 23
Claremont police received an innocent enough 11:09 a.m. call regarding a man and a woman attempting to steal a bicycle near Blaisdell Park, at College and Oak Park avenues, but it turned out to be anything but routine, allegedly involving the deadly synthetic drug fentanyl. Arriving officers found the bike in question was still at the location, but was missing its front tire. Armed with the caller’s description, police located the two suspects near Indian Hill Blvd. and Oak Park Dr. a short time later walking two other bicycles and carrying a front wheel.
The pair, Claremont resident Faith King, 20, and a 52-year-old unhoused man, allegedly admitted to stealing the front tire. During a search, King was allegedly found to be in possession of a methamphetamine pipe, and was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Police say they found a small rock of fentanyl-laced meth on the unhoused man, and he was subsequently arrested for possession of a controlled substance, also a misdemeanor. The owner of the bike wheel did not wish to prosecute for the theft, but did want his wheel returned, which the officers did shortly thereafter. It was not the CPD’s first encounter with King, a spokesman told the COURIER. Police viewed home video surveillance footage provided by a homeowner they say showed King arriving at a Claremont home late one evening last June, walking up to a bedroom window, reaching into a baggie and passing an unknown quantity of pills through the window into the waiting hand of a juvenile girl who lived there. That investigation was closed after the minor girl’s parents told a Claremont Police Department detective they did not wish to pursue prosecution.
A Claremont man was behind bars after police discovered a shotgun in his bedroom, triggering them to ask a judge to issue an emergency protective order for his 82-year-old grandmother, whom he had allegedly threatened to kill in the apartment they shared. The grandmother called Claremont police at 11 a.m. to report her grandson, Andrew Perez, who uses a wheelchair, had threatened her life during an argument.
Perez was gone by the time the cops arrived, but the woman gave them permission to search his room, where they allegedly found a brown and black pistol grip shotgun sitting on his bed in plain view. The gun was collected for safe keeping. Officers immediately contacted a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, who issued an emergency protective order for the grandmother.
At 4:02 p.m. the grandmother called police to report she had seen Perez’s wheelchair outside a rear bedroom exterior door of the apartment, and that she believed he had returned and was in his room. Officers arrived and were allowed into the apartment, where they found Perez in his bedroom and took him into custody without incident. He was then booked and transferred to the Los Angeles County Twin Towers Inmate Reception Center, where he was held in front of a May 25 date with a judge.
