Police arrest alleged lottery ticket thieves
Glendale Police on Thursday arrested Vahran Simonyan, 24, and Davit Simonyan, 20, for allegedly stealing 69 packs of lottery tickets valued at more than $20,000.
The brothers allegedly stole the tickets and other items from an Arco gas station located at 144 N. Verdugo Road, where they were both employees. The winning tickets were later cashed at several locations around in the city, Sgt. Tom Lorenz said.
Gas station officials noticed the missing tickets and contacted Glendale police.
The suspects were identified through surveillance video footage of them cashing some of the stolen tickets.
During a search of the pair’s apartment on Raymond Avenue in west Glendale, police reported recovering stolen goods, including $6,500 in cash, more than 600 stolen phone cards and 37 packs of cigarettes.
County extends $50,000 reward
The deadline for a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person who started the Station fire has been extended.
The reward was set to expire Saturday, but the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to extend the deadline to Sept. 3. The state has offered an additional $100,000 reward.
The Station fire ignited on Aug. 26, 2009, along Angeles Crest Highway, about two miles north of La Cañada Flintridge.
It burned more than 160,000 acres in the Angeles National Forest, destroyed dozens of homes and was blamed for the deaths of two Los Angeles County firefighters.
Capt. Tedmund Hall, 47, and Spc. Arnold Quinones, 35, died after their truck plunged 800 feet into a ravine near Mount Gleason. They had been trying to set backfires to protect a nearby fire camp as the fire bore down.
An incendiary substance was found near the outbreak of the fire, and investigators believe it was intentionally set.
A homicide investigation is also underway.
New firefighters graduate academy
The Glendale Fire Department on Friday welcomed 11 new fire recruits to the ranks.
The new firefighters graduated as members of the Glendale Fire Recruit Academy after 12 weeks of basic training, according to an announcement from the department.
The recruits are set to immediately start in their new positions after having been assigned to a specific fire company, marking the beginning of a probationary training period.
During the ceremony on Friday, each recruit received their badge, helmet shield and certificate of appointment before taking the oath of office administered by Fire Chief Harold Scoggins.
The recruits were: Charles Brown, Timothy Chow, Steven Genovese, Matthew Jean, Thomas Lee, Cesar Medina, Mike Meyer, Stephan Pettit, James Rohrig, Brian Williams and Ara Zakarian.