Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department - San Dimas Station

If a loved one, a family member or you have been arrested by or are being investigated by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LAPD), San Dimas Station, it can cause a lot of questions.

Facing such a situation, it can be smart to know the bail amount (if any) associated with the offense if police deny an own recognizance (OR) release. It is also helpful to know what evidence is needed to convict one for the crime that allegedly took place, the defenses possible and the sentence a judge can impose if one is convicted of the crime.

We at Greg Hill & Associates believe it is also prudent to know a few more things before interacting with any branch of law enforcement. It can be savvy to know the size of the police or sheriff’s department, the area’s demographics, the most common types of crimes the department investigates and just a bit about the area’s history to make one’s communication with law enforcement more meaningful, more nuanced and perhaps, more respectful. This can lead to a better outcome than if one lacks such perspective.

This article is presented with these goals in mind.

The Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, San Dimas Station, has thirty-two sworn police officers and an unspecified number of civilian support personnel assigned to it.

The San Dimas Station is responsible for the City of San Dimas, as well as the unincorporated areas of Covina, Azusa, Glendora, La Verne, Claremont, Azusa Canyon, Mount Baldy, Angeles National Forest (State Route 39), which is an area of 276 square miles.

The City of San Dimas itself has a population of 34,924 as of the 2020 census.

As of 2010, the racial makeup of San Dimas was 49.5% White (40.8% Non-Hispanic White), 3.8% Black or African American, 1.1% Native American, 14.3% Asian, and 0.1% Pacific Islander, with 12.4% from other races, and 18.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents, of any race, made up 37.0% of the population.

As of 2000, Mexico (21.0%) and the Philippines (8.6%) were the most common countries for foreign-born residents.

On June 6, 2013, a federal grand jury indicted fifty-one people alleged associated with the Azusa 13 criminal street gang (a set of the Sureño street gang) on a host of federal firearms and narcotics charges, as well as accusing them of harassing and terrorizing blacks in the Azusa area in incidents dating back to 1992.

Like many other Mexican gangs, the 13 in the name stands for the letter "M", indicating its affiliation with the Mexican Mafia. The gang is known to tax drug sales in the area and funnels money to the Mexican Mafia.

The 24-count indictment catalogued numerous alleged meetings at which gang members discussed targeting blacks in the area, and incidents in which blacks were beaten and robbed.

According to the indictment, the gang also allegedly taxes drug dealers in the Azusa area, passing some of the proceeds on to members of the Mexican Mafia prison gang, a practice common among many Latino street gangs in Southern California.

In 1997, one gang member allegedly drew up a "business plan" for the gang to control drug trafficking in Azusa through violence, and urged gang members "to imagine the 'varrio' as a company, [and] imagine the homeboys as employees of this company," according to the indictment.

The gang, with more than four hundred members, has been a force in the Azusa area since its formation in the 1960’s.

In 2013, Santiago "Chico" Rios, a leader of the gang, was sentenced to 19 years and six months in prison by U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess, according to the Times, and his hearing impaired son, Louie "Lil Chico" Rios, was given a 10-year sentence. Both had pleaded guilty to conspiring to attack African Americans and chase them out of Azusa, a gang policy established in 1992, the paper said.

Much of the racially inspired murder and mayhem was and is being directed from far away from the streets and hills of Los Angeles. As the Intelligence Report detailed in the Winter 2006 issue the powerful Mexican Mafia, a prison-based gang, had given the "green light" to the many Latino gangs it controls in Southern California to terrorize and murder black people as part of the effort to drive them out.

Most cases arising out of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s San Dimas Station’s areas of responsibility are brought at the West Covina or Pomona Courthouse, but some are also brought at the Clara Shortridge Foltz criminal courts building (CCB) at 210 West Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles. Cases that may be filed at CCB instead of at the West Covina or Pomona Courthouse would be very serious cases needing specialized prosecutors trained in handling such cases.

Over the last 25 years, our office has handled over twenty cases arising out the San Dimas Sheriff’s station and brought in the West Covina or Pomona Courthouse. Such cases vary from DUI to domestic violence, to shoplifting, to trespassing, to criminal threats to burglary.