Chick-Fil-A: Anxiously awaited, Finally arrived

The La Mirada Chick-Fil-A on the eve of their
Grand Opening Weds May22 

La Mirada-  The waiting is finally over.  With all the expected hype, promotion, pizazz one expects, and yes the food giveaway campout, La Mirada has joined the ranks of the have's and away from the have nots' at 6:00 a.m. this morning, May 23rd when the newest Chick-Fil-A opened its doors for business.

The restaurant is located across from the Holiday Inn next to the northbound I-5 Freeway Valley View exit ramp on Firestone Blvd North next to Northwoods on the site of the former Elephant Bar.

The eatery has built a remarkable cult-like following with their grand opening food giveaway promotions and La Mirada was no exception.

A 12-hour campout was held from 6 p.m. last night with 100 successful campers being treated to a free chicken sandwich meal each week for 52 weeks.

They must be off to a good start because and too busy to respond to a La Mirada News inquiry regarding how many campers made it through the night.

Meet the man, well one of them anyway, that has been breaking into cars overnight

La Mirada News has been reviewing a series of video taken by homeowners of the Ring security system and are able to attribute a series of thefts from unlocked vehicles to at least two men early this morning.

A Toyota pickup driven by our suspects can be seen in this first video after a motion sensor detected movement near a home near the second video in East Whittier in the area of Homeland Dr and Garydale Dr.  The second video taken seven minutes later in the same immediate area is the clearest video so far of the suspect and the truck he drives.

https://neighbors.ring.com/n/696Ao


https://neighbors.ring.com/n/GGyV0

It appears the suspects eventually head west which makes appears to implicate them in a vehicle break-in near Stamy Rd and Midcrest Dr.

At 3:20 a.m. it appears they are now further west into South Whittier near Archway Dr and Mulberry Dr (one block west of La Mirada Blvd) rattling doors in hopes of finding a car unlocked. 

As the suspect leaves the driveway and is behind the car you can see a quick image of a second person crossing his path and appears to be an accomplice. 

https://neighbors.ring.com/n/0D701

11 minutes later we can see the man from 2;47 a.m. clearly in the final video after having just broken into a vehicle near Archway Dr and Anola St as he leaves the car he just pillaged.

https://neighbors.ring.com/n/Pqm0v

The truck appears to be an older-model Toyota pickup with an Xtra cab and is either a light gray, silver, or champagne color.

I welcome your remarks, opinions, or observations.

Felony charges filed in La Mirada domestic violence stabing

Prosecutors filed two felony charges in court this week against a local man in connection with the stabbing incident last weekend at a La Mirada townhome in the 12200 block of Santa Gertrudes.

Monish Bandodkar, 45, was arrested after deputies responded to an incomplete 911 call on Saturday about 12:45 p.m. and found a victim that had been stabbed in front of the home. 

The victim told deputies that suspect was a boyfriend and was still inside the home. After deputies surrounded the home, Bandodkar surrendered to deputies after making a loudspeaker announcement to exit the home was made without further incident.

Bandodkar entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, and of causing traumatic injury to a spouse or cohabitant and will appear again in court to be arraigned at Norwalk Superior Court on May 14.  

Bandodkar is being held at Men's Central Jail in Downtown Los Angeles with bail set at $100,000.

The injuries to the victim were not life-threatening.

Updated: Pedestrian critically injured after being struck by motorist survives

Updated Apr. 26 4:45 p.m.

La Mirada-  A pedestrian attempting to cross a dark area of highway mid-block suffered life-threatening injuries after being hit by a passing vehicle late Wednesday night.

The man was struck in the southbound lanes about 200 feet north of Imperial Hwy near the point where the driveway where AutoZone is located.

Paramedics rushed the man to the trauma unit at UCI Medical Center in Orange in critical condition. 

Both traffic lanes of southbound La Mirada Blvd will remain closed for several more hours to allow sheriff's traffic investigators to process the scene.

***Update Apr 26***  Rushed with life-threatening injuries to a local trauma unit the man has put up a successful fight to survive after undergoing emergency surgery shortly after arriving at the hospital according to a sheriff's spokesperson. 

Paramedics quickly assessed the unidentified man's condition and rushed him to UCI Medical Center the regional trauma center closest to La Mirada located on City Drive/State College Blvd just off Interstate-5.

The man arrived at the hospital about 35 minutes after the accident which is well within the 'golden hour' standard where that offers the best chance of survival.

The accident remains under investigation.