Police blotter 10.11.13

Thursday, October 3

The bad luck streak continues for the Claremont Forum, located at 586 First St. in the Claremont Packing House. For the third time within a month, vandals attempted to break into the nonprofit. Similar to the last attempt, however, the crooks were unable to gain entrance. The handles to the store’s outward-facing door were broken, but there was no other damage. The damages continued in the Packing House basement, where a vehicle was found with a smashed window. Lucky for the owner, there was no property loss.

Any information on either of these incidents should be reported to the Claremont Police Department at 399-5411.

Saturday, October 5

The Los Angeles County HAZMAT crew was called to Golden State Water, 110 S. College Ave., on Saturday morning after a very angry man wreaked havoc on the facility.

The man—who claimed a voice had told him to break the company’s pipes and allegedly stated, “I’d blow this place up if necessary”—broke into the building, yelling and screaming as he destroyed pipes and equipment, according to Detective Robert Ewing.

In the process, the suspect caused a leak in a 40-gallon tank of chlorine. The HAZMAT team was called to the scene and the man was taken to the hospital, first for treatment of chemical burns to his body and next for a mental hold. He was also arrested for burglary and vandalism.

****

The weather has been getting peculiar at Pitzer College, where several have reported fruit mysteriously falling from the sky near the vicinity of Pitzer Hall. In one of the most recent cases, a female student was walking in the 1000 block of the Pitzer Service Road when she was struck in the face by a falling apple. There were no witnesses. The mystery remains unsolved.

Monday, October 7

Alan Balchazar, 24, of Pomona decided to go on an early-morning drive on Monday. Unfortunately, it was on the wrong side of the road. His journey quickly drew to a close when he crashed his car into a fence near Base Line Road and Monte Vista Ave. His car was a little worse for wear, but Mr. Balchazar left the scene unharmed except for a bruised ego. He was arrested for driving under the influence.  

Tuesday, October 8

Riding skateboards in a strange neighborhood at 3 a.m. is likely going to cause suspicion, two young men and a teenager discovered a little too late on Tuesday. Police caught up with them in the 2100 block of Forbes Avenue, where 20-year-old Cody Bridges of Pomona, 19-year-old Timothy Glasby of Ontario and 20-year-old Stephen Harrison-Granato of Upland were found laden with stolen property from a series of car thefts in the area.

Loot included cash, GPS units and sunglasses. Two of the crooks remained tight-lipped, but the third didn’t receive the memo, and admitting to police, “We were walking around stealing things from unlocked cars.”

Property was returned to the rightful owners, while the men remained behind bars.

—Beth Hartnett

news@claremont-courier.com