Community Scanner
Friday May 17
By Steve Propes
Tuesday, April 22
East Zaferia. A resident named Joe woke up to find his light blue 1983 Mercedes Benz missing shortly after he befriended a homeless man and woman and let them take showers in his apartment. Soon thereafter, his car keys went missing and the next night, Joe’s Mercedes went missing. Two days later, as a friend was driving Joe to the store, Joe saw his Mercedes on PCH near Cherry being driven by its new owner.
Wednesday, April 23
Haynes Steam Plant. At 12:55 p.m., a woman was observed taking photos of the steam plant, so authorities were sent to find out for what purpose and more about her intent, if she had one.
Thursday, April 24
6500 block of El Roble St. Came 9:50 a.m. reports of a man washing down pesticides in his permitted marijuana grow. The cops arrived to investigate and the fire department showed up to provide services if needed, which apparently were not.
Long Beach City Jail. A 50-year-old Long Beach woman died while in custody after being arrested and booked on a felony narcotics charge. While alone in a holding cell at 5 p.m., she began to go into medical distress. Jail personnel and on-duty medical personnel began life-saving measures. Paramedics arrived and continued life-saving efforts, however, the woman was pronounced deceased on site.
Friday, April 25
55 Nieto. A female burglary suspect was caught in the act at gunpoint by an ex-cop at 12:45 p.m., with another female suspect possibly in the wind or in the drink.
East Zaferia. At 6 p.m. Joe of the stolen Mercedes got a call from “Smokey”, possibly known as “Smoke” who offered to broker a return of the car as the homeless couple who took it found out it had been reported stolen. At midnight, Joe got the car back from “Smokey,” whom he invited to his pad to play X-box, apparently no harm, no foul. Joe intended to report he had gotten his car back but a Food-4-Less run on May 8 brought out the cops, the chopper and the cuffs.
Sunday, April 27
1400 block of Junipero Ave. Police received reports of shots fired at 3 a.m. After arriving, officers found Enrique Casique, 39, of Long Beach dead of an apparent gunshot wound to his upper body. Anyone with information regarding this incident, please call Homicide Detectives Hugo Cortes or Todd Johnson at 562-570-7244.
Monday, April 28
Willow and the 405. As the result of a traffic collision at 11:55 a.m., an underpass to the 405 Freeway suffered some slight damage, which should be of no concern to those driving above.
Outer Traffic Circle. At 3:50 p.m., came reports of a male and female having sex in a car lot attached to a storage unit location, which most likely is not permitted behavior outside of the unit; inside, who’s to say?
Wednesday, May 1
1400 block of Florida St. At 3:20 p.m., a shooting occurred with the victim, 20-year-old Devin Smith being rushed to a local hospital, where he died later of his wounds. Police arrived and investigated several leads, but no arrests resulted.
Thursday, May 2
City Hall. At 9:45 a.m., professional messenger Dave Grudt arrived to pick up some documents at Long Beach City Hall and was met by all hall employees exiting the premises courtesy an emergency, an emergency drill, that is. He noticed signs up for each floor and certain people wearing monitor badges with matching floor numbers.
Friday, May 3
Carson Street, east of Watson Plaza Drive. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department ran a checkpoint with 1813 vehicles passing through and 1627 drivers checked, one alcohol impaired suspect with a .18% blood alcohol content and one unlicensed driver were arrested and two vehicle s were stored for one day.
Monday, May 6
5300 block of Parkcrest St. Three cop cars showed up at 3:20 p.m. for the purpose of having three young people sit on the curb of the park in order to discuss specifics of their being there.
3300 block of San Anseline Ave. As a consequence of a 6:15 p.m. burglary, the suspect was last seen heading toward Wardlow Rd. and escape options that could include, but not be limited to, Orange County to the east or a well regulated airport to the west.
Tuesday, May 7
Second St. and Bonito Ave. A female alleged hit and run driver took out one no parking sign at 1:30 p.m., which locals wanted picked up, if not completely replaced.
2100 Bellflower Blvd. The regular beggar’s row was joined at 3:55 p.m. by an adult male holding a sign asking for money prompting TJ customers to worry about the two pre-teen youths he had brought with him.
steve@longbeachcomber.com