Page 1 - PARLIER POST 12-27-17 E-edition

VOL. 34 NO. 52, PARLIER (FRESNO COUNTY) 93648 1 SECTION, 8 PAGES WEDNESDAY, December 27, 2017
Officers save puppies from burning garage
Parlier police officers saved two puppie from a burning garage on Dec. 19.
Police arrest suspect
in armed robbery
Staff Report
Parlier Police arrested a man who they said robbed a Cricket Wireless store at gunpoint on Dec. 1.
The suspect, Jesus Torres, 26, was wearing a handkerchief covering his face when he entered the store and demanded money from the tellers at gunpoint.
The suspect fled with approximately $800.
A partial license plate hit led back to Torres and after some investigation, police obtained a warrant for his residence eventually leading to his arrest. He was arrested at his residence and faces charges in the Cricket Wireless store along with other unrelated warrants.
On Dec. 20, Torres had a preliminary court date and was held to answer on the armed robbery. A bail amount of $215,000 was set with an arraignment scheduled for Jan 8.
Photo Contributed
Staff report
Parlier police officers were able to save two puppies from a burning garage last week after a fire broke out in the 13700 block of Amigo Street.
Police said unfortunately neither the officers nor Fresno County firefighters were able to save a third dog inside of the burning garage.
On Dec. 19, officers Daniel Corona, Javier Jaurique and Juan Torres responded to a call of a house fire on Amigo Street.
When they arrived black smoke was already coming through the garage door.
Police said a woman came running out of the house saying that her dogs were trapped
inside of the burning garage. No one else was inside the residence.
Officer Corona rushed to the garage door, pulled the handle and opened the garage door. Officer Torres then rushed inside of the garage and was able to get a hold of two puppies that were in the middle of the garage inside a kennel.
Officer Torres pulled the extremely hot kennel out of the garage as fumes and smoke filled the area. He dragged the kennel to safety, making sure the dogs were out of the fire.
Officer Corona sustained a minor burn to his hand trying to get another dog that was trapped inside the
FIRE...See Page 8
Photo Contributed
Three Parlier police officers' quick thinking saves two dogs from burning house on Dec. 19.
Community Christmas Party draws crowd
Templo Lirio de los Valles drew a big crowd at the Parlier Community Center for its fourth annual Community Christmas Party.
Parlier residents gathered on Dec. 20 to celebrate Christmas with a dinner, toy giveaway and pictures with Santa Claus.
Pastor Abel Santiago said attendance for the event almost doubled this year. Over the last four years, the celebration has significantly grown, Santiago said. Nearly 400 gifts were handed out to children. LiriodelosVallespartneredwithClovis' CrosscityChurchfortheevent.
The Parlier Police Department also participated in the event by hosting a "pic- tures with Santa" station.
Pizza Pirate donated gift certificates that were raffled that night.
Children were able to enjoy the night with different craft booths.
Parents also were able to pick out a gift and wrap it at the event. Bikes were raffled throughout the night. More photos on Page 7.
ABOVE: Templo Lirio de los Valles' fourth annual Community Christmas Party drew more than 400 people on Dec. 20.
LEFT: The Community Christmas Party featured several different craft booths for
children.
Photos by Karina Vargas / The Post
City opens warming center
Police chief
gives crime
update
Staff report
Parlier Police Chief Jose Garza provided City Council members with a year-to-date crime statistics update during a Dec. 19 special meeting.
Garza said year-to-date stats show the city is "doing great."
Statistics show the city is down 19 incidents compared to last year. In 2016, the city had a total of 411 victims of "part one" crimes that include homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. This year
that number decreased to 392. Year-to-date aggravated assaults and robberies have risen compared to 2016. There have been 122 more
arrests in 2017 than in 2016.
There were 10,388 calls for service in 2017 compared to last year's 9,829. However, Garza said most of those are self-initiated by officers rather
than dispatched calls.
CRIME...Continued on Page 8
By Karina Vargas
parlierpost@midvalleypublishing.com
The city of Parlier has partnered with Sanger's Time in Destiny Christian Center to open a warming center for the homeless in town.
During a Dec. 6 council meeting, Police Chief Jose Garza announced that due to complaints from residents, 13 homeless encampments were served with "no trespassing" orders.
A number of community members — including homeless people — shared their concerns with the council and City Manager Sam Escobar.
At a Dec. 14 council meeting, resident Leticia Trujillo asked the council to offer an overnight shelter for the homeless to sleep
in.Trujillo, who has organized several events to help the homeless, believes they should be allowed to stay in the city because they are Parlier residents.
On Dec. 20, the council approved a lease with Time in
Photo Contributed
The city of Parlier has opened a new warming center for the homeless. The city partnered with Paul Zavala who pastors Sanger's Time in Destiny Christian Center to open and run the warming center. The Poverello House is expected to provide services to the homeless through their Multi-agency Access Program, or MAP Point. MAP Point already offers services to the homeless in town every Wednesday.
Destiny's pastor Paul Zavala to run a warming center when temperatures are below 38 degrees.
Escobar said the idea behind the partnership is to find a short-term
solution for the concerns that were brought to him.
Escobar said a long-term or permanent solution might come up in the future to find services for the homeless population in Parlier.
Mayor Alma Beltran believes the cause in the rise of homeless in rural communities is a result of Proposition 47 which reduces some
WARMING...Continued on Page 7
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