Community Scanner
Friday August 27
by Steve Propes
Friday, Aug. 6
1900 block of Lakewood Blvd. Observation often pays off, as a police surveillance team found and arrested a “named suspect” wanted for burglary, though there was no public release of the named subject’s name.
Saturday, Aug. 7
Orizaba Ave. and Anaheim St. At about 12:30 a.m., a robbery-by-knife occurred outside a local business. Police are investigating.
Sunday, Aug. 8
Ocean Blvd. and Lindero Ave. At about 3 a.m. came reports of a gun being fired. Police arrived to investigate and found a suspect, whom they arrested. They also took a gun into custody, labeling it evidence of a shooting. Yeah, baby.
Seventh St. and Grand Ave. At about 6:30 a.m., a male was discovered burglarizing motor vehicles. Stolen stuff was recovered and burglar tools were taken off the street, more evidence recovered.
Thursday, Aug. 12
Broadway near Obispo Ave. Long Beach Transit Bus 112 passed a man who was waving at the bus at a bus stop at about 8:15 p.m. Passenger ran after the bus to Redondo, waved down a cab and ordered “follow that bus!” At 4th and Ximeno, the spurned passenger, paid $6 to the driver, then waited at the bus stop, where the transit bus driver, possibly wondering how this passenger got to this stop ahead of the bus, stopped his vehicle. While boarding, the passenger said he was going to report the driver, who replied, “I couldn’t see you. It was dark.” The passenger put the change in the box, rode to his stop, and told the driver he changed his mind unless he passed him up again.
Friday, Aug. 13
Bellflower and Willow. At about 2:30 a.m., a suspect in search of juice derived from fast food sales broke a window and burglarized a popular breakfast spot.
Ximeno Ave. and 15th St. Somewhere in the wide jurisdiction of the L.A. County Sheriff, someone’s vehicle was stolen. As the victim pursued the thief, he made regular calls to the sheriff to give the vehicle’s location. Many units and one chopper took up the pursuit with the driver crashing into a truck pulling a small trailer and downing a light pole at about 7 a.m. Not surprisingly, the car thief fled into some bushes, which proved not to be a long-term solution, as he was quickly located and arrested. Long Beach cops helped the deputies mill around the scene, which was closed off to extraneous civilian traffic.
2900 block of Clark Ave. Two eatery business windows were discovered in smashed condition at this popular dining strip mall at about 7:45 a.m., which joined the Bellflower and Willow juice location as vandalism victims.
Sunday, Aug. 15
Willow Street and Studebaker Road. At about 4 p.m., police and park rangers on a person with a gun call at El Dorado Park, found a male adult victim who appeared to have died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the upper body, sitting by a tree inside the park. The victim was identified as 38-year-old Jason Walston of Long Beach.
1900 block of Lees Ave. When police went to make the notification of the above suicide at the victim’s home, they found the body of 35-year-old spouse of the suicide victim, Amy Walston, whom the coroner later determined died from strangulation. The couple’s 4-year-old daughter was staying with family members and was not home at the time of the incident. During the investigation, the sheriff bomb squad was called in because of what appeared to be a hand grenade on a kitchen counter with a pin still in it at about 10 p.m., however it was determined to be harmless. Anyone who may have any information regarding these incidents is urged to contact Long Beach Police Homicide Detectives David Rios and Roger Zottneck at (562) 570-7244.
Tuesday, Aug. 17
4901 E. Carson St. Trapper Dexter Johnson, a 55-year-old Long Beach City College student was arrested at about 9:30 a.m. for carrying a concealed weapon after authorities received a tip Tuesday of a student with a gun at the campus.
1700 block of Termino Ave. At about 1:45 p.m., a brand new turquoise BMW turned halfway into a pharmacy parking lot when something about that turn caused a motorcycle and its rider to fall. As onlookers began yelling, the toppled cyclist got up, examined his own self with onlookers still screaming at the now completely stopped Beemer, when the unexpected happened. The cyclist waved the BMW on and left as a witness approached the female operated BMW to deliver pithy phrases like “Watch where you’re going next time” and the not-so-obscure, “You’re lucky.” The BMW remained stock still, windows rolled up, in the driveway, woman eating a sandwich, though a safe assumption is that it’s gonzo by now - the woman, not the sandwich.