Los Angeles Times - 26.11.2019

LATIMES.COM TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2019B

CITY & STATE

HOLIDAY CHEER

Al SeibLos Angeles Times

Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger greets Judy E. Ramos while handing out turkeys as he continued his tradition of distributing

holiday food to families at the 38th annual “Miracle on 1st Street” giveaway at the Hollenbeck Youth Center in Los Angeles.

Two boys, ages 11 and 14,

were shot to death while

they sat alone in a van

parked at a Bay Area ele-

mentary school over the

weekend, authorities said.

Union City police re-

ceived calls just before 1:

a.m. Saturday about a

shooting in the parking lot of

Searles Elementary School

in the 1800 block of Sherman

Drive. When they arrived,

they found the two boys in-

side a gray van riddled with

bullet holes.

The 14-year-old died at

the scene, and the 11-year-old

died en route to a trauma

center, authorities said.

Investigators think the

children, who were good

friends, had been sitting

alone in the van for some

time and were not waiting

for a parent or adult, Lt.

Steve Mendez said.

Officers collected video

surveillance but could not

gather much information

because the school parking

lot is poorly lit, Mendez said.

Investigators think one

person opened fire on the

van while the boys sat inside.

It was unclear whether

the boys had been left at the

school or had driven them-

selves there.

They were not students

at Searles Elementary, au-

thorities said, and the school

had been closed for the holi-

days as of Friday.

The boys’ parents re-

quested not to be publicly

identified.

“They are extremely dis-

traught,” Mendez said. “We

are trying to get more infor-

mation from them ... in

hopes we can come up with

some answers.”

Police are investigating

whether another shooting a

few days earlier is related.

About 12:30 a.m. Wednesday,

two men were shot near 8th

and C streets. Both were

treated at a hospital and re-

leased.

The two shootings are

unusual for the community,

Mendez said.

“This is exceptionally dif-

ficult for our community. It’s

not something that happens

here often,” he said. “We’re

really doing our best to bring

these guys to justice. We’re

hoping our community

helps us so we can all heal.”

Anyone with information

about the shooting is asked

to call the Union City Police

Department anonymously

at (510) 675-5207.

2 boys

fatally

shot in

vehicle

Union City police

seek information on

early-morning killing

outside grade school.

By Alejandra

Reyes-Velarde

A 5-month-old sea lion
was tuckered out Sunday af-
ter firefighters rescued the
little pup who had strayed
from his Bay Area home.
“He found his way into a
local parking structure, and
a good citizen called RCFD
to the rescue,” the Redwood
City Fire Department said.
Firefighters wrangled the
sea lion, nicknamed Santos,
in the parking garage and
placed a rope leash around
his neck. Video recorded
back at the fire station
shows the cuddly critter
fighting off sleep. Resting on
a green-and-white-striped
towel, the tired baby repeat-
edly dips his head as he tries
to stave off sleep before even-
tually giving into nap time
after an undoubtedly tiring
adventure.
The Marine Mammal
Center brought the sea lion
to nearby Sausalito, where
he will be monitored and
treated before being re-
leased.
Sea lions and seals are no
stranger to the Redwood
City area. Bair Island, one of
the wetlands south of San
Francisco Bay, is one of their
havens.

THE PUP,nicknamed
Santos, gave in to nap
time after his adventure.

Redwood City Fire Department

Sea lion is

rescued by

firefighters

By Colleen Shalby

Four people with ties to

Colombia are responsible

for a long-running lottery

ticket scheme targeting old-

er Latina women in South-

ern California and bilking

them out of hundreds of

thousands of dollars, the

FBI announced Monday.

Luisa Camargo, 38; Mer-

cedes Montanez, 68; Tito

Lozada, 49; and Maria Luisa

Henao, 43, were charged

Nov. 12 with conspiracy to

commit wire fraud, U.S. Jus-

tice Department records

show.

Camargo, Montanez and

Lozada are all native Colom-

bians. Henao recently be-

came a U.S. citizen after emi-

grating from Colombia.

According to a federal in-

dictment, the scheme in-

volved approaching Latina

women, ages 64 to 81, and

asking for help cashing a

“winning” lottery ticket. One

of the four would pretend to

be a lottery official and con-

firm the ticket’s validity over

the phone, while another

would offer to help cash in

the ticket. During the phone

call, the co-conspirators told

the victims a deposit was re-

quired before the winnings

could be paid.

Much of the scam was

conducted in Spanish, ac-

cording to Voviette Morgan,

special agent in charge of the

criminal division for the Los

Angeles field office of the

FBI.

The targets of the

scheme were encouraged to

contribute money or jewelry,

and the suspects would

drive them home or to their

banks to retrieve the items,

court documents show. The

victims then were driven to

an unknown residence

under the guise of waiting

for additional contributors

while those involved in the

scam fled.

In a news conference

Monday, Morgan said her

team has linked Camargo,

Montanez, Lozada and

Henao to at least 10 victims

in 11 incidents. She thinks

there may be others involved

in the far-reaching scheme

that ran from 2017 to Sep-

tember 2019 in multiple

Southern California com-

munities, including Long

Beach, Maywood and San

Pedro.

“Tens of hundreds of

thousands of dollars” have

been lost, she said. “In 2019,

we typically think of scams

being perpetrated online via

email or over the phone. But

this scam I’m discussing to-

day is up close, and it is per-

sonal and it is face-to-face.”

Morgan said her team

was tipped off by the San Di-

ego County district attor-

ney’s office, which helped

identify the suspects.

Camargo, Montanez and

Lozada were arrested in

Long Beach and are ex-

pected to be arraigned Mon-

day. Henao was arrested in

San Diego and is being held

without bail. If convicted,

each faces 20 years in federal

prison.

Morgan said it’s impor-

tant that the public be made

aware of this issue so no one

else would fall for a similar

trick.

“It’s effective, it’s working

and it’s targeting upon a vul-

nerable part of our popula-

tion,” she said.

Four arrested in lottery scam targeting older Latinas

VOVIETTE MORGANof the FBI announces the charges in a federal indictment

involving a lottery scheme that targeted older Latina women in the Southland.

Jason ArmondLos Angeles Times

By Emmanuel Morgan

Tonight’s Mega Millions

Estimated jackpot:$226 million

Sales close at 7:45 p.m.

For Monday, Nov. 25, 2019

Fantasy Five: 6-10-22-25-

Daily Four: 2-2-7-

Daily Three (midday): 7-3-

Daily Three (evening): 4-8-

Daily Derby:

(8) Gorgeous George

(9) Winning Spirit

(2) Lucky Star

Race time: 1:41.

Results on the internet:

http://www.latimes.com/lottery

General information:

(800) 568-

(Results not available at this number)

Lottery results

SAN DIEGO — Alvarado

Estates, an upscale area

near San Diego State, is

struggling this fall with an

unexpected consequence of

being one of the city’s first

gated communities.

The neighborhood has

long wanted its telephone

poles, power lines and other

utilities placed under-

ground as part of a multimil-

lion-dollar city program. But

City Atty. Mara Elliott said

the neighborhood is ineligi-

ble because of the gates.

“Using city funds to

underground utilities in Al-

varado Estates would be an

improper gift of public

funds, as this would not be

for the general good of all in-

habitants of the city because

the streets and sidewalks of

this community are closed to

the general public,” Elliott

wrote in an opinion issued

this fall.

Elliott’s opinion also says

the utilities project would

probably boost property val-

ues in Alvarado Estates,

benefiting only that neigh-

borhood’s homeowners, not

the public.

The Alvarado Estates

Community Assn. says

burying utilities under-

ground would benefit the

public by reducing the

chances of a fire in the 125-

home neighborhood, which

it says is open to joggers and

pedestrians.

The association, which

would have to spend more

than $1 million to pay for the

project itself, has voted to

file a lawsuit if the city

doesn’t change its stance.

The dispute has revived

many of the old arguments

over gated communities

when they first became

popular in the 1980s and ’90s.

Some critics say such

neighborhoods are divisive,

damage community cohe-

siveness and create elitist

fortress-like enclaves.

Supporters say such

neighborhoods aren’t seced-

ing from the city but just

want to ensure they have low

crime and safe streets free

from excessive traffic.

Alvarado Estates’ deci-

sion to add gates was

prompted by concerns in the

late 1990s about the traffic

that would be generated by a

new arena, now called Viejas

Arena, being planned for the

San Diego State campus.

Marshall Lewis, a neigh-

borhood resident and an at-

torney for the homeowners

association, said the deci-

sion to add gates was not

about keeping the public

out, just vehicles.

He said many joggers

pass through the neighbor-

hood, which is about a mile

west of campus, and that

some of the university’s

sports teams do running

drills there because it’s pro-

tected from heavy traffic.

“The problem with the

city’s position is that this

isn’t private property,” he

said by phone. “There is a

gate, but it’s open to people.”

But Elliott’s opinion says

1997 city documents approv-

ing the gates stipulate that

Alvarado Estates is respon-

sible for maintaining the

streets, sidewalks, street-

lights and storm drains be-

cause they are now private.

“Because Alvarado Es-

tates is a private community

that is necessarily made up

of private sidewalks and

streets, the improved aes-

thetics and integrity of the

utilities are not enjoyed by

the public at large because

the public at large is prohib-

ited from using these private

rights-of-way,” the opinion

says.

Lewis said that implies

the neighborhood allows ac-

cess to pedestrians by

choice, but he contends al-

lowing access to pedestrians

was a requirement of the

1997 approval.

“It’s possible if we can

prove that, then the whole is-

sue would go away,” he said,

adding that he’s been trying

to locate documents that

show such a requirement.

Being included in the

city’s program is the neigh-

borhood’s only hope of hav-

ing its utilities moved under-

ground, Lewis said.

“There’s no way we would

be able to pay for it,” he said.

“It’s too expensive.”

The city pays for such

projects, which are handled

neighborhood by neighbor-

hood, with a surcharge paid

by all San Diego Gas & Elec-

tric customers for the ex-

press purpose of burying

utilities.

The city announced early

this year it would accelerate

its efforts by shrinking proj-

ects to boost efficiency and

by creating more accurate

schedules so neighborhoods

know when to expect such

work.

An area called Block 70,

which includes Alvarado Es-

tates, is finally near the top

of a long city waiting list,

prompting the new ques-

tions about the gated neigh-

borhood’s eligibility.

When the dispute first

emerged earlier this year,

City Council President

Georgette Gómez asked El-

liott to provide some legal

guidance, a request that

prompted the opinion this

fall.

Most of the homes in Al-

varado Estates were built

about 50 years before the

gates were added.

Garrick writes for the San

Diego Union-Tribune.

Gated enclave feeling shut out

San Diego neighborhood ineligible to have utilities buried by the city

By David Garrick