Freeway Off Ramp

Detectives on Saturday were investigating the death of Rickie Ann Blake, a 14-year-old girl whose body was found on a freeway off-ramp in San Diego several hours after she was reported missing from her home under mysterious circumstances. The junior high school student was last seen alive by her sister shortly before midnight Thursday in the living room of the family's Chula Vista home, located in the 1500 block of Oleander Avenue.

The 55-year-old man found dead in Burbank along a 5 Freeway off-ramp Tuesday evening was a longtime Alaska Airlines pilot scheduled to fly back to Seattle that morning, the airline said Wednesday. A passerby spotted the body along a fence at the Scott Road off-ramp about 6 p.m. Tuesday and called authorities, Burbank Police Sgt. Darin Ryburn said. Paramedics arrived and pronounced the man dead. He was identified as Lee Clifford Morris of Richland, Wash., a Seattle-based pilot who worked for Horizon and Alaska Airlines for 26 years, said Paul McElroy, an Alaska Airlines spokesman.

The southbound off-ramp from the San Gabriel River Freeway to Imperial Highway will be shut at 8 p.m. Tuesday until Aug. 19 for construction of a $68-million interchange to the Glenn Anderson Freeway (I-105). Plans call for completion in July, 1993. The project stretches from Alondra Boulevard to Firestone Boulevard on I-605 and from Bellflower Boulevard to Studebaker Road on I-105 and encompasses parts of Bellflower, Norwalk and Downey.

Police have made an arrest in the car-to-car shooting death of a young woman near a freeway off-ramp. Officer Jason Lee said Jessica Ortega, 30, of Ramona Gardens was arrested Friday in the slaying of 19-year-old Samantha Padilla. The vehicle believed used in the shooting also was impounded. Lee said detectives were continuing their investigation to see if there are other suspects. Padilla was shot early Thursday while stopped at a traffic light at the end of an off-ramp from the 110 Freeway in South Los Angeles.

Regarding Jack Clark filing for bankruptcy halfway through an $8.7-million contract (Newswire, Aug. 8), I can see it now: Here's this major league baseball player, standing at a freeway off-ramp, with his Giant sweat shirt, Padre cap, Cardinal bat, and Red Sox sox, holding his hand-printed cardboard sign: BROKE, HOMELESS FREE AGENT WILL DH FOR FOOD OR $3.2 MILLION LARRY BERG, San Gabriel

An unidentified person was found shot to death on a freeway off-ramp in Sun Valley today, Los Angeles police said. Few details were available. Police said the body was found on the Lankershim Boulevard off-ramp from the southbound Golden State Freeway. The body was discovered about 10 a.m., and the freeway ramp was expected to remain closed until at least 12:30 p.m., California Highway Patrol dispatcher Susan Simmons said.

A 44-year-old man was found dead Thursday by his relatives next to a freeway off-ramp in East Los Angeles. Deputy Mary Landreth of the Sheriff's Information Bureau said the body of the East Los Angeles resident was found about 12:30 p.m. at the Olympic Boulevard exit of the northbound Long Beach (710) Freeway. Authorities said the man was a homicide victim, but did not disclose the cause of death or the man's name.

Police have made an arrest in the car-to-car shooting death of a young woman near a freeway off-ramp. Officer Jason Lee said Jessica Ortega, 30, of Ramona Gardens was arrested Friday in the slaying of 19-year-old Samantha Padilla. The vehicle believed used in the shooting also was impounded. Lee said detectives were continuing their investigation to see if there are other suspects. Padilla was shot early Thursday while stopped at a traffic light at the end of an off-ramp from the 110 Freeway in South Los Angeles.

In the Nov. 10 Los Angeles Times, there was an article about a homeless woman, an article in which Gov. Wilson says that maybe new arrivals in California should wait three years before they get welfare, and an article on cancer and the tough fight it has been to reduce and treat it. There was (also) an article stating that the city of Huntington Beach was going to use $464,250 of state and federal funds that can only be used for highway-related purposes to "spiffy" a major freeway off-ramp with trees and flowers ("Landscaped Look for Huntington Beach")

A pedestrian who punched the driver of a car that he said hit him in a Glendale crosswalk Sunday faces possible felony charges after the driver died. The pedestrian, Charles Denman Kountze, 34, of Glendale was arrested about 3:30 p.m. Sunday on suspicion of felony assault. Witnesses said Kountze struck the driver of the car, Peter Eugene Grepo, 42, while the two were arguing about the accident. Grepo of Eagle Rock collapsed a few minutes later and died at Glendale Adventist Medical Center about eight hours after the altercation.

A carjacker smashed through the window of a woman's pickup Monday at a freeway off-ramp, and yanked her through the jagged glass before stealing her truck, authorities said. The driver, who was not identified, suffered only minor injuries and was treated at a hospital, according to Officer Angel Johnson of the California Highway Patrol. Investigators were searching for witnesses to the 9:55 a.m. attack on the Imperial Highway offramp of the Orange Freeway.

A Ventura Freeway off-ramp in Camarillo was closed for several hours Thursday night as firefighters removed a 30-gallon drum of toxic pesticide from the roadway, the Ventura County Fire Department reported. Officials said the drum, full of methyl bromide, fell off a truck and came to rest on the roadway. Because of the toxic nature of the pesticide, officials decided to close the southbound Las Posas off-ramp for several hours and called in a hazardous materials crew to remove it.

The California Department of Transportation has disheartening news for commuters traveling southbound on the Santa Ana Freeway who regularly turn off on the Newport Avenue off-ramp. Beginning at midnight Sunday the off-ramp will be closed--permanently. A new Newport Avenue off-ramp is not expected to open until early May. The new off-ramp will be about three-quarters of a mile north of the present Newport Avenue off-ramp. The new off-ramp is part of the Santa Ana Freeway improvement project.

To help boost the local economy, Thousand Oaks business leaders are urging the City Council to approve a plan to install signs near freeway exits directing motorists to service stations, restaurants and hotels. "We've been pushing for something like this for 10 years," said Steve Rubenstein, president of the Chamber of Commerce. "The way our city is designed, it's so difficult to see businesses from the highway."

Michele Peterson's generosity toward a homeless man at a freeway off-ramp landed her in court Wednesday, facing off with the California Highway Patrol officer who ticketed her for impeding traffic when she handed the man $4. "He told me, 'If you want to help those people, why don't you park your car across the street and walk over?' " the Santa Barbara college instructor testified at a hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Los Angeles police are looking for Alfredo (Freddie) Chagolla, 22, a suspect in the freeway off-ramp slaying of Ronald B. Ordin, owner of the Central Wholesale Market in downtown Los Angeles. Police said Chagolla, whom they believe to be the triggerman in the shooting, fled to Mexico shortly after the May 16, 1991, slaying but may be back in this area. A reward is being offered for information leading to his arrest.

A carjacker smashed through the window of a woman's pickup Monday at a freeway off-ramp, and yanked her through the jagged glass before stealing her truck, authorities said. The driver, who was not identified, suffered only minor injuries and was treated at a hospital, according to Officer Angel Johnson of the California Highway Patrol. Investigators were searching for witnesses to the 9:55 a.m. attack on the Imperial Highway offramp of the Orange Freeway.

A woman who had just celebrated her birthday was killed today when she lost control of her car on a freeway off-ramp and the vehicle slammed into a tree, authorities said. The Anaheim woman turned 28 Wednesday, and her car was filled with flowers and presents when officers and paramedics found her in the wreckage shortly after 12:15 a.m., California Highway Patrol Officer Lyle Whitten said.

Regarding Jack Clark filing for bankruptcy halfway through an $8.7-million contract (Newswire, Aug. 8), I can see it now: Here's this major league baseball player, standing at a freeway off-ramp, with his Giant sweat shirt, Padre cap, Cardinal bat, and Red Sox sox, holding his hand-printed cardboard sign: BROKE, HOMELESS FREE AGENT WILL DH FOR FOOD OR $3.2 MILLION LARRY BERG, San Gabriel

The body of a man who appeared to be in his early 30s was found in the bushes below an off-ramp along Interstate 5 and Camino de Estrella Friday evening, authorities said. Sgt. Nelda Gonzalez said a transient found the victim, surrounded by several vodka bottles, and alerted police about 4:15 p.m. The victim's name was not known. Police speculated that his body had been there for several days.