Azusa Police Arrest Suspect With Replica Firearms Prior To Marathon
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San Gabriel Unified Elementary Fosters Student Creativity Through Design-Based Learning
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017 - NOVEMBER 15, 2017 - VOLUME 21, NO. 45
Two Long Beach Men Arrested In Fraud Scheme On October 23, 2017, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office charged 59-year-old Real Estate Broker Andrew Hutchings and 60-year-old Ronald Hoch, both residents of Long Beach, in a criminal complaint, case number BA462055, with Identity Theft, Forgery, Procuring and Offering a False Instrument, Grand Theft, and Money Laundering. Warrants were issued for their arrests. It is alleged that between 2013 and 2017, the defendants participated in a sophisticated scheme targeting elderly and deceased victims who owned vacant homes in the cities of Los Angeles, Lakewood, Hemet and Westlake Village. The defendants allegedly impersonated the victims and then sold, or attempted to sell the victims’ homes, or obtained loans using the victims’ homes as collateral. Proceeds from the fraud were laundered by purchasing gold coins from out of state companies, and shipping the coins to mail boxes in California which were obtained under false names. The total loss in the case exceeds $190,000, however it is believed that the defend-
ants attempted to steal over $1 million in equity from the victims’ homes. Andrew Hutchings was arrested at his home on November 6, 2017, and is being held on $645,000 bail. Ronald Hoch was arrested near his home on November 2, 2017 and is being held on $500,000 bail. Both defendants werescheduled to be arraigned on November 7, 2017, in Department 30 at the Foltz Criminal Justice Center. This was a joint investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the Los Angeles Police Department. Investigators believe there are other victims and are asking anyone with questions or information about this incident to contact Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Fraud & Cyber Crimes Bureau, Sergeant Alex Gilinets at (562) 522-0780. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the “P3 Tips” Mobile APP on Google play or the App Store, or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
BY MAY S. RUIZ
through active and ongoing conversations with students and parents about bullying. One independent school in Arcadia went a step further by including a social curriculum to create acceptable standards of behavior on campus. This challenge is front and center in the Duarte Unified School District (DUSD) where Superintendent, Allan Mucerino, is taking a PBIS or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports approach to teasing and bullying in the classroom. States Mucerino, “PBIS has been quite
San Gabriel Valley Schools Adopt Anti-Bullying Program
Bullying is a common occurrence in schools and the numbers prove it; one study revealed that as many as 49 percent of children in grades 4-12 have been bullied at least once during the past month. School administrators and teachers have been looking for ways to solve this prevalent problem. For years several different methods to stop bullying have been utilized, including zero tolerance and expulsion which have since been deemed ineffective. Several schools in the San Gabriel Valley are grabbing this bull by the horns, so to speak,
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Hutchings (left) was arrested at his home on November 6, Hoch was arrested on November 2.
Inland Empire Pimp Sentenced To Federal Prison For Sex Trafficking A pimp, known by the moniker “Classified,” who recruited approximately 20 women and girls through a social media website and advertised their services as prostitutes in an online publication, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for sex trafficking of a child by force, fraud or coercion. Lawrence T. Gunn, Jr., 33, of Woodland Hills, who was previously convicted for similar conduct, was sentenced by United States District Judge David O. Carter. According to court documents, Gunn forced his victims into prostitution through physical and verbal abuse and tattooed his moniker “Classified” on their bodies including on the faces of some of his victims who he recruited on
Facebook. He branded his victims with the tattoo to permanently mark his sex workers as his own. Gunn admitted that he used force, threats of force, fraud and/or coercion to cause the victims to engage in commercial sex acts between May 2015 and late February 2016. He then took all of the money the victims collected from customers. Gunn physically struck the women if they attempted to keep any of the money or if they tried to leave, breaking a young victim’s nose on one occasion. Gunn also admitted that he threatened to kill one 16-year-old victim, who he had tattooed “Classified” over her right eye, if she tried to See Page 3
– Courtesy photos
Rancho Cucamonga Man Sentenced To State Prison In Fraud Scheme A Rancho Cucamonga man was sentenced to six years in state prison after admitting his involvement in auto insurance fraud schemes by manipulating used car odometers and vehicle titles to make the vehicles appear more valuable and then using false identities of other victims to sell those cars on Craigslist and Auto Trader to unsuspecting customers. Hani Abujudeh, 55, of Rancho Cucamonga, pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of Auto Insurance Fraud, Money Laundering, Perjury, False Impersonation and Grand Theft. According to Deputy District Attorney Karen Parker-Parent, who pros-
ecuted the case, Abujudeh was required to pay in court the full amount of victim restitution in the amount of $189,475.22. The victims included 15 individuals and 4 insurance companies who appeared in court today to receive their restitution checks. Parker-Parent added at least one of the victims has been unable to buy another car since the defendant sold her a car which was actually owned by someone else. The defendant’s scam was discovered by investigators with the California Department of Insurance (CDI) who were See Page 4