Los Angeles Times - 23.08.2019

L ATIMES.COM FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019B

CITY & STATE

FRESNO — California
law enforcement has
learned that Mexican drug
traffickers are using a dan-
gerous pesticide banned in
the United States to grow
marijuana in remote areas of
California’s Sierra Nevada
mountains, and are going af-
ter their operations.
The pesticide, carbofu-
ran, is toxic to wildlife and
humans and can cause per-
manent reproductive dam-
age.
Law enforcement took
reporters on a tour of one of
the illegal grow sites on

Tuesday, where a bottle of

carbofuran could be seen.

“These are federal lands,

and they are being system-

atically destroyed through

clear-cutting, stream diver-

sion, chemicals and pesti-

cides,” U.S. Atty. McGregor

Scott said at a news confer-

ence, where he was joined by

federal, state and local offi-

cials who were part of the in-

vestigation. “It’s a vitally im-

portant issue.”

The illegal grow site con-

sisted of an estimated 6,

marijuana plants embedded

into a rugged stretch of the

Sierra National Forest in

Madera County, near Dutch

Oven Creek.

U.S. Forest Service

agents raided the site on

Monday.

At least one man fled, but

two suspected drug traffick-

ers, Lester Eduardo Carde-

nas Flores and Luis Reyes

Madrigal, both of Michoa-

can, Mexico, were appre-

hended, authorities said.

They were charged Tuesday

in federal court in Fresno

with conspiracy to manufac-

ture and distribute large

quantities of marijuana.

The Dutch Oven Creek

site was intact just as the

growers had left it — canna-

bis plants growing amid a

forest that had been cleared.

The camp included a bed

frame, sleeping bags, stock-

piles of fertilizers and haz-

ardous chemicals.

Experts say carbofuran is

so hazardous that a tea-

spoon will kill a full-grown

bear. Partly because of il-

legal grow sites, traces of

carbofuran’s deadly chemi-

cal composition have been

detected in streams and riv-

ers, and found in animals —

living and dead — including

threatened species such as

the Pacific fisher.

“It’s a web of death that

happens,” said Mourad Ga-

briel, co-director of the Inte-

gral Ecology Research Cen-

ter, a natural-resource non-

profit that has spearheaded

the effort to track the envi-

ronmental effects of tres-

pass grow sites, and also

leads the charge to clean

them up.

Grow sites also divert wa-

ter from streams. The Dutch

Oven Creek site, with its

6,000 plants, was poaching a

minimum of 5.4 million gal-

lons of water a year.

“Water is the most impor-

tant issue in California, and

the amount being used to

grow an illegal product in the

national forest is mind-bog-

gling,” Scott said. “If we

could divert that water use

to legitimate uses, it would

go a long way to helping us to

solve that problem.”

AN ILLEGALmarijuana grow site in Sierra Nevada contained about 6,000 plants and traces of the pesticide carbofuran, officials said.

Kent NishimuraLos Angeles Times

Banned pesticide found at pot sites

Drug traffickers are using dangerous chemical at California grow operations, officials say

By Piper McDaniel

A jury on Thursday found

Michael Gargiulo sane at the

time of three knife attacks he

carried out in the Los Ange-

les area, paving the way for

prosecutors to pursue the

death penalty.

Gargiulo, 43, who’s been

dubbed the “Boy Next Door

Killer” and the “Hollywood

Ripper,” was convicted of

murdering Ashley Ellerin,

22, and Maria Bruno, 32, and

attempting to kill Michelle

Murphy,who was 26 at the

time, in attacks in the Los

Angeles area between 2001

and 2008. The jury deliberat-

ed a few hours over two days

before reaching its verdict.

Gargiulo’s defense attor-

neys argued that their client

suffered from a mental dis-

order that left him in a

“fugue state” — unable to re-

call his actions — during

Murphy’s attack. They also

said he suffered “mon-

strous” abuse as a child that

led to monstrous results as

an adult.

Prosecutors told jurors

that Gargiulo “knew exactly

what he was doing in these

well-planned attacks.”

They said Gargiulo’s se-

ries of stabbings began in

the Chicago area in 1993 with

the killing of Tricia Pacaccio,

18. He is charged in that slay-
    ing in Chicago.
    The penalty phase is ex-
    pected to begin next month.
    Prosecutors said
    Gargiulo entered Ellerin’s
    home and stabbed her 47
    times. In 2005, prosecutors
    said, Gargiulo attacked
    Bruno as she slept.
    In the last attack, in April
    2008, the woman fought him
    off and survived.

Killer is

deemed

sane in

attacks

With jury’s decision,

Michael Gargiulo may

face the death penalty.

By Alene

Tchekmedyian

A Cal State Fullerton em-

ployee has been arrested in

connection with the fatal

stabbing of a retired uni-

versity administrator, au-

thorities said Thursday.

Chuyen Vo, 51, was appre-

hended at 10:16 p.m. Wednes-

day in his Huntington Beach

home and is being held with-

out bail, Fullerton police

said at a news conference.

Officials say he attacked

Steven Shek Keung Chan,

57, in a campus parking lot

Monday, killing the former

budget director who had re-

turned to Cal State Fuller-

ton as a consultant.

Fullerton Police Lt. Jon

Radus did not disclose the

relationship between Vo and

Chanbut said the victim had

been targeted.

Chan was stabbed multi-

ple times inside his parked

car. He was bleeding from

his head and paramedics

performed lifesaving mea-

sures, but he died at the

scene.

“I come today to you with

aheavy heart,” university

President Framroze Virjee

said at the news conference

Thursday. “We as a Titan

family have suffered a devas-

tating tragedy that’s hit

close to home. Our hearts

are with Steven Chan and

with his family and everyone

in the campus community.”

During their investiga-

tion, authorities found an

“incendiary device”and a

backpack under the victim’s

car that contained zip ties

and disguises.

Although Radus de-

clined to say how investiga-

tors identified Vo as a sus-

pect, he said items in the

backpack played a role.

The assailant was last

seen Monday running from

the parking lot near Langs-

dorf Drive and Nutwood Av-

enue toward a Marriott Ho-

tel. He had been described

as being in his mid-20s and

was wearing all black.

The search for the at-

tacker extended into Tues-

day. Authorities combed the

area with the help of Orange

County Sheriff ’s Depart-

ment bloodhounds, but

could not locate the suspect.

Investigators released a

sketch and surveillance vi-

deo in hopes that someone

could identify the man seen

running from the crime

scene.

Monday’s attack, on the

first day of the academic

year, frightened students,

who are slated to start

classes next week.

Chan served as Cal State

Fullerton’s director of

budget and finance and stu-

dent services for university

extended education from

2009 until he retired in 2017.

He returned to the campus

in early 2019 as a special con-

sultant.

He was a private man

who mostly kept to himself

and was methodical in his

work, said Ellen Treanor, a

campus spokeswoman. He

had an undergraduate de-

gree in accounting from Cal

State Hayward and a degree

from Whittier Law School.

“He was a man of few

words,” Treanor said. “He

refused to have a going-away

party but hugged everybody

when he came back.”

Staff writer Hannah Fry

contributed to this report.

Arrest made in fatal campus attack

CAL STATEFullerton President Framroze Virjee,

left, and campus Police Chief Raymond Aguirre.

Robert GauthierLos Angeles Times

Police say retired

administrator at Cal

State Fullerton was

specifically targeted.

By Alejandra

Reyes-Velarde

A sniper who authorities
say wounded a deputy in the
parking lot of the Los Ange-
les County Sheriff ’s Depart-
ment’s Lancaster station
has not been found, author-
ities said Thursday.
Sheriff ’s officials spent
hours overnight searching a
nearby four-story apart-
ment building, where they
expected to find the gunman
who fired at Deputy Angel
Reinosa, who was struck
about 2:50 p.m. Wednesday
while walking to his car. Au-
thorities recovered a pellet
gun from the building, but
it’s not clear whether that
was the weapon used in the
shooting, according to a
source with knowledge of
the investigation.
The shooting drew a
massive police presence,
with a SWAT team and ar-
mored vehicles responding.
Deputies blocked off the
apartment building and be-
lieved the shooter was
trapped inside. However,
when officials concluded
their search of the structure
about 4 a.m., they did not
find a suspect, according to
the Sheriff ’s Department.
Reinosa, 21, suffered a

“graze wound” to his shoul-

der and was taken to a hospi-

tal. He since has been re-

leased and is expected to re-

cover, officials said.

“He is doing great, thank-

fully,” Sheriff ’s Capt. Todd

Weber said late Wednesday.

“The wound was minor, and

he’s been treated and he’s

doing well, in high spirits.”

The Sheriff ’s Depart-

ment said the gunfire came

from a considerable dis-

tance. It was unclear how

many shots were fired, but a

source said the shooter fired

ahigh-velocity rifle round

that hit Reinosa.

The deputy made a radio

call from the helipad in the

station’s parking lot about

2:53 p.m. and said two shots

had been fired north of the

helipad from the nearby

apartment building, accord-

ing to preliminary informa-

tion provided by authorities.

Reinosa was able to scram-

ble back to the station and

get medical help.

Reinosa has been with

the Sheriff ’s Department for

a year and joined the Lan-

caster station in May, Weber

said at a news conference

Wednesday night.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex

Parris said that the deputy’s

bulletproof vest saved his life

but that the bullet deflected

into his shoulder.

ASHERIFF’Svehicle joins the manhunt in Lancas-
ter on Wednesday night after a deputy was wounded.

Myung J. ChunLos Angeles Times

Suspect still sought

after deputy is shot

By Richard Winton,
Maya Lau
and Hannah Fry

Homer Simpson would

have been horrified at a dis-

covery made by Redding po-

lice in the pre-dawn hours

Thursday.

It was still dark when offi-

cers came upon a delivery

van that had been stolen

from a bakery and was

parked in a lot near a train

station. They readied their

flashlights and swung open

the vehicle’s back door —

and then the situation took a

bittersweet turn. Inside were

mounds of glorious confec-

tions, but most had been

strewn on the floor.

Dozens of doughnuts —

some covered in sticky glaze

and others dipped in choco-

late — had slid off their trays

alongside their fallen broth-

ers: croissants, pan dulce,

conchas and muffins.

The officers were pretty

broken up about it. One put

his hand to his head and

bent over in mock horror af-

ter opening the van’s sliding

door and pastries tumbled

onto the pavement.

“The Officers were heart-

broken that all these donuts

had to be thrown away,” the

Redding Police Department

wrote in a Facebook post,

poking fun at stereotypes of

doughnut-loving cops.

Officers searched the

area but couldn’t find the

person involved in what the

department described as a

“tragic incident.”

The van belongs to the

Little Maya Bakery, with

shops nearly 200 miles south

of Redding in Vallejo and So-

noma, said bakery owner

Pablo Santos.

Santos said he was deliv-

ering pastries Wednesday

morning when he parked the

van with the keys inside be-

fore running into a store. He

was gone only a few minutes,

and when he returned the

van and all of the sweet

treats inside were gone.

He hadn’t learned the

van had been found until a

reporter called him early

Thursday.

“Wow!” he shouted.

“They found it!”

For cops, bakery van heist does take the cake

By Hannah Fry