By Laura Brady-Allen
Arrest in Shooting Death of 15-Year-Old Boy
Archi Chavez, 19, a resident of the Firestone area of unincorporated Los Angeles County, was arrested by LAPD on January 13 and charged with one count of murder in the shooting death of Joseph Lopez, 15.
Lopez was shot and killed on January 6 in the 5700 block of Fayette Street in Highland Park. Lt. Rabbett of the LAPD Central Bureau Homicide division told the Boulevard Sentinel that the motive appeared to be “narcotics related.” Chavez is being held in jail and is due in court on February 5, according to inmate records. His bail was set at $3 million.
Another shooting death occurred on Fayette Street on August 21, when Edgar Franquez, 36, was shot and killed in his backyard, not far from the scene of the Lopez shooting. Rabbett said that “at this point, this is nothing to suggest” the crimes are related. “The only connection is geographic,” said Rabbett. No arrest has been made in the shooting of Franquez.
Suspect Arrested After a 5-Hour Standoff
On January 21, at 5 a.m., a man who had allegedly brandished a weapon at another motorist refused to leave a house in the 3000 block of Drew Street in Glassell Park where police had gone to arrest him, according to a report in the Eastsider.
The ensuing standoff ended at 10 a.m., when the man surrendered and was arrested. Police later identified the suspect as Christopher Andrew Wilgus, a 50-year-old white male.
Inmate records show that Wilgus’s case was adjudicated on January 27 and he was sentenced to jail with a projected release date of March 15, 2020.
Cops on the Beat for Colorado Boulevard?
LAPD Senior Lead Officer Fernando Ochoa approached the Council District 14 office in January to suggest adding foot patrols on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock.
An LAPD foot patrol was added recently along Figueroa Street in Highland Park. Foot patrols have also been deployed in downtown L.A. and Hollywood among other neighborhoods.
In an email response to questions from the Boulevard Sentinel, Ochoa said that discussions about establishing a foot patrol in Eagle Rock are in the preliminary stage, but that “we will be pushing hard” for them.
He said that foot patrols have been successful in other parts of the city and that he was hopeful they could also be successfully tailored to the needs of businesses and residents in Eagle Rock.
There doesn’t seem to be much hope, however, for a greater patrol car presence along the boulevards in Eagle Rock.
“I have fielded so many questions about keeping our car in Eagle Rock when trouble hits other parts of the division or city,” said Ochoa. “But that is hard to do or justify with the violent crime occurring elsewhere in the division.”
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