Police Blotter: October 22, 2021

Monday, October 11
Claremont police on patrol near Indian Hill Blvd. and the 10 freeway pulled over a red 2003 Acura driven by Fernando Vargas, 30, from Pomona, at 11:49 p.m. for not having a front license plate. After questioning, they suspected Vargas was inebriated, and a field sobriety test allegedly confirmed that suspicion. He was arrested on two misdemeanor counts: DUI drugs and alcohol, and, after cops say they discovered several stolen credit and debit cards in the car’s driver seat and center console belonging to multiple victims, possession of stolen property. Meanwhile his passenger, Pomona resident Jassiel Medina Hernandez, 30, was allegedly found to be in possession of heroin and hypodermic needles. He was arrested for drug and drug paraphernalia possession, both misdemeanors. Hernandez was booked and released with a citation to appear in Pomona Superior Court. Vargas was booked and jailed for detoxification before being released in the morning with a ticket to appear for arraignment in the same court.

Tuesday, October 12
A 40-year-old Baldwin Park resident, Vincent Rodriguez, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Foothill Transit bus driver with a walking cane, leaving aone-inch gash in his chest. A witness reported the melee from the bus at 8:30 p.m. at First St. and Yale Ave. The victim was a 55-year-old Pomona man. Arriving officers took Rodriguez into custody, booked him for misdemeanor battery, and released him with a citation to appear in Pomona court.

Wednesday, October 13
In a Blotter first, a 48-year-old Anaheim man called Claremont police at 10:26 a.m. to report he was in his car, drunk, needed help, and didn’t want to cause an accident, essentially asking to be arrested to avoid potential mayhem. The call came in from the Vons parking lot at 550 E. Base Line Rd., and sure enough when officers arrived they found a “heavily intoxicated” Jose Segura Garcia in his parked car. They then complied with Segura Garcia’s request, arresting and booking him for being drunk in public, a misdemeanor. He then spent the day sleeping it off in the Claremont jail before being released with a citation to appear in Pomona court.

Sunday, October 17
Claremont’s handy and expeditious license plate cameras were at it again, picking up a stolen 2003 black Suzuki on city streets. Officers were alerted, and at 2:13 p.m. caught up to the hot Suzuki at Indian Hill Blvd. and San Jose Ave., and made a traffic stop. The driver, Sarah Wedin, 36, from Riverside, was arrested for felony car theft and for an active misdemeanor arrest warrant out of the unusual jurisdiction of Los Angeles International Airport. A passenger, 32-year-old Riverside resident Mitchell Flores, was allegedly in possession of methamphetamine and a meth pipe, and was arrested as well, charged with two misdemeanor counts of drug and paraphernalia possession. Police say a second passenger, Israel Rivera, 54, and also from Riverside, had a meth pipe on him as well. He was arrested as well on misdemeanor paraphernalia charge. All three were booked and released with citations to appear in Pomona court.

Monday, October 18
A 19-year-old Los Angeles man and his passenger, 17, led multiple police agencies on a brief but wild early morning car chase that ended only after he headed the wrong way on the 210 freeway and crashed into another vehicle. The incident began after Claremont PD responded in rapid fashion to a 2:47 a.m. burglar alarm at Euro Café, 546 E. Base Line Rd., arriving just 30 seconds after it sounded. There they allegedly saw someone running from the restaurant and then hop into the passenger seat of a waiting black Jeep SUV. The officers moved their car to block the Jeep from escaping, but the driver, Dejon Butler, 19, allegedly rammed the cruiser and escaped onto Base Line Rd. heading west, triggering the pursuit. Cops say Butler turned off his lights as he sped down Base Line Rd. into La Verne, then jumped on the 210 freeway at Fruit St. Claremont police thought better of continuing the dangerous chase, and opted to terminate the pursuit. A check of the 210 freeway almost immediately turned up a crash just west of the Fruit St. onramp, and the officers went to the scene, where they found the Jeep empty. The occupants of the other car were thankfully uninjured. Police then searched the area and quickly located the 17-year-old passenger hiding in the bushes along the south embankment of the freeway and took him into custody. Butler though, was still at large, and by then officers from the California Highway Patrol and La Verne Police Department had arrived to aid in the search, as well as a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department helicopter and Claremont Police Department’s canine cop, Drew. The dog tracked Butler up the south embankment and east along the south sound wall of the freeway, eventually finding him hiding in the bushes. Butler was then arrested without incident and charged with multiple felonies: burglary, evading a police officer, evading driving the wrong way, grand theft auto, possession of a stolen vehicle, and resisting arrest. The Jeep was found to have been reported stolen out of Ontario. Police say inside the SUV were three cash registers, one of which belonged to Euro Café. Butler was held on $50,000 bail in the Claremont jail before appearing in Pomona Superior Court for his arraignment on October 20. His alleged juvenile accomplice was reportedly a runaway from a group facility in San Bernardino. He was booked on charges of burglary and resisting arrest and later released to the custody of the group facility with a citation to appear in court. No officers were injured in the incident.