• Man slices arms to the bone with saws at California Home Depot

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    By John Simerson and Robert Kovacik, NBC Los Angeles

    A man cut his arms to the bone with handsaws at a California home improvement store and was found in a pool of blood, authorities said.


    Pasadena fire Capt. Art Hurtado was among horrified shoppers in the aisle Wednesday. He was shopping with his wife on his day off and jumped in to help.

    Hurtado and his wife, Isabelle, saw West Covina police officers rush to the man, and he joined them.

    "The officers had already found a man face down," Hurtado said, "and the whole store is in chaos."

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    "People just couldn’t believe it," added West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez. “He walked into the saw area, picked up a couple of saws in the saw area and started cutting both of his arms.”

    Hurtado said that as soon as he noticed the first saw, he "thought it was just going to be a crime scene and a fatality."

    Without gloves or any equipment, the 21-year fire department veteran began working on the victim.

    "He was just barely breathing," Hurtado said.

    But Hurtado kept trying, using what was on the store shelves around him.

    "I can save this guy, if I engage, that’s what we do," he said.

    "I started asking for a lot of towels," Hurtado added. "They finally showed up with a large packet of quarter-inch rope, nylon rope. And I ripped it open and just stretched it out, and I told the police officer I want 24-inch sections. Just start cutting."

    Lopez said the man used several handsaws — including one that is used to cut drywall — to cut "all the way down to the bone."

    "It was a godsend," Lopez said. "He happened to be at the right place at the right time, probably saved his life."

    It was all in a day’s work, to Hurtado.

    "Were we in a good place for it? No, but you improvise," he said. "You make things do. Like I said, if I didn’t have rope, I would have used my shoelaces. We would have made it work."

    Home Depot told NBC Los Angeles in a statement that it will cooperate with law enforcement's investigation. The victim remained in surgery late Wednesday.

    This story was originally published on Thu Apr 11, 2013 8:12 AM EDT

  • Human bones on backyard altar were bought from eBay, relative says

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    By Patrick Healy, NBCLosAngeles.com

    Some of the bones and a skull found Sunday in a Pasadena backyard are human, the Los Angeles Coroner's Office has confirmed.

    A man who left the house Monday said that his sister's family had found the bones for sale on eBay, and that she purchased them for religious reasons. The man identified himself only as Jose, declining to give his last name.

    Police said they were pursuing a trespasser when they spotted bones atop the outdoor altar. Steer horns and other animal bones were visible, along with the human bones, candles and incense. 

    "The religious aspect of the case is not our focus -- it's the bones," said Pasadena Police Lt. Ed Calatayud. 

    Human skulls indeed are listed for sale on eBay.  On Monday, for example, one described as suitable for dental study was listed at $710.

    Jose said his sister practices Palo Mayombe, an offshoot of Santeria.

    'The Saint of Death'
    Studying images of the statues on the altar, an expert on Latin American folk religions saw different symbolism.

    "What caught my eye was that the backyard altar was obviously primarily an altar to Santa Muerte, the Saint of Death ... whose cult has been mushrooming both in the United States and Mexico over the past decade," said R. Andrew Chesnut, professor of religious studies and holder of the Bishop Sullivan Chair at Virginia Commonwealth University. 

    "What it really is, is a fusion of medieval Catholicism and native Mexican folk religion,” said Chesnut, the author of "Devoted to Death:  Santa Muerte, the Skeleton Saint."

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    Santa Muerte has continued to grow, despite condemnation from the Catholic Church and from the federal government of Mexico, Chesnut said. 

    Santa Muerta is distinct from Santeria, but creation of personal altars is a characteristic among followers of both, and in some cases altars are adorned with bones, both animal and human.

    "The bones themselves are often believed to have special powers,” he said.

    The coroner's office took custody of the bones and skull discovered in the 800 block of North Oakland Avenue. 

    At this point there is no indication of any crime, police said.  But the coroner will attempt to determine their origin.

  • 6 officers injured when 2 police helicopters collide in Pasadena

    By Melissa Pamer, Sofia Pop and Janet Kwak, NBCLosAngeles.com

    LOS ANGELES -- Six police personnel received minor injuries when two Pasadena police helicopters were involved in a crash Saturday afternoon.


    A police official on scene said that one chopper had clipped another while one was landing and the other taking off.

    The incident occurred at 4:10 p.m. at the Pasadena Police Department's helipad at 2175 Yucca Lane in Altadena (map), about 1 1/2 miles north of the Rose Bowl.

    The collision involved a police patrol chopper and a helicopter assigned to monitor traffic leaving a football game at the Rose Bowl, where crosstown rivals UCLA and USC met at the stadium for the first time since 2010.

    Five officers were being transported to a hospital with minor injuries, officials said. Police at one point said there had been six people injured; that was amended to five and then upgraded to six.

    "We have five people that were transported, all with a complaint of pain," a Pasadena police spokeswoman said. "It would appear at this point that there are no major injuries to our people."

    Two pilots, three observers and an officer on the ground suffered non-life threatening injuries, authorities said.

    Neighbors said they heard a loud explosion after the crash.

    The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

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  • 911 caller arrested after Pasadena police fatally shoot teen

    By msnbc.com staff and news services

    PASADENA, Calif. -- A 911 caller has been arrested after Pasadena police say his false armed robbery report led officers to shoot and kill a 19-year-old college student they believed to be a suspect.

    Pasadena Police Chief Philip Sanchez told reporters Wednesday that a deadly chain of events was set into motion after officers responded to a 911 call claiming a laptop had been stolen by two armed men.


    Caller Oscar Carrillo allegedly told officers that two suspects were armed with handguns on Orange Grove Boulevard at Raymond Avenue.

    The phone call put officers on alert and led them to believe Kendrec McDade was armed when they saw him about two blocks from that location Saturday night, Sanchez said.

    "The actions of the 911 caller set the minds of the officers," Sanchez said.

    McDade ran from officers until an officer used the police cruiser to block McDade's path in an alley and rolled down his window, Lt. Phlunte Riddle said.

    McDade allegedly made a motion at his waistband and the officer opened fire. A second officer who was chasing McDade on foot also opened fire, Riddle said.

    Football standout
    McDade, who was less than 10 feet away from the patrol car when the officer opened fire, died of his injuries at Huntington Hospital. The Citrus College student was a football standout at Azusa High School.

    In an interview Monday with detectives, Sanchez said Carrillo admitted that he made up the story about the gun to speed up the officers' response. Detectives now believe McDade and the other person, a juvenile, were unarmed, Riddle said.

    Carrillo was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter in connection with McDade's shooting, Sanchez said.

    The other suspect, a juvenile, has been charged with two counts of commercial burglary, one count of grand theft and one count of failure to register as a gang member as a condition of his probation. He remains in custody.

    Earl Ofari Hutchinson, of Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, said there were "a great number of questions unanswered" in the case.

    "The bottom line is this young man was not armed when he was shot dead," he told the Los Angeles Times.

    Joe Scherf, head football coach at Azusa High, also told the Times that McDade was "a good kid who was never in trouble."

    The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

  • Rose Parade disrupters face fines, jail time

    Jae C. Hong / AP

    In this Dec. 29 photo, Occupy activists test a float made with a giant replica of the U.S. Constitution in Pasadena, Calif. Activists plan to turn out en masse, on Jan. 2, at the annual Rose Parade to demonstrate against corporate greed.

    As Pasadena prepares for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade, officials noted it was illegal to disrupt the event, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

    Occupy protesters plan to march behind the parade with an octopus-shaped “human float” to represent the hold corporations have on the country, according to the Occupy Rose Parade website.

    Disrupting or impeding a parade is punishable by a $1,000 fine and a jail term of up to six months, the Times report said.

    The traditional New Year’s Day parade comes a month after the area was hit by a fierce windstorm that toppled trees, knocked out power in some areas and caused Pasadena close to $15 million in public damage and recovery costs, the Pasadena Star-News reported.

    The 2012 parade will be held on Monday, Jan. 2, due to the event’s “Never on a Sunday” tradition that was established in 1893, according to the Tournament of Roses website.