Pasadena Police Chief Recaps Last Week’s Critical Incidents

Editor’s Note: In this report, Pasadena Chief of Police Phillip Sanchez reviews noteworthy incidents which occurred or were concluded in recent weeks in Pasadena.

On July 2, a suspect and a female accomplice entered a music store. The suspect subsequently stole items from the store and he may be linked to other thefts throughout Southern California. The case was assigned to Detective T. Blanchard and Officer A. Torres, who completed a comprehensive follow-up investigation. Detective Blanchard and Officer Torres identified the suspect and released a want flyer to their PPD coworkers. On July 27, Suspect Bobadilla was arrested by Officers M. Calderon and C. Prestwich while on routine patrol.

On July 30 at 8:20 p.m., Pasadena Police officers responded to the area of Morton and Hammond regarding a shooting. On arrival, officers located a gunshot victim (male Black, 50s). The victim was uncooperative and did not provide much information to the investigating officers. The victim was transported to HMH. While PPD officers were at the hospital, a second victim (male Black, 50s) arrived in a private vehicle, also suffering from a GSW. The second victim only provided limited information about the shooting. Both victims are in stable condition. Our investigation is ongoing

On July 31 at about 7:00 a.m., Pasadena Police officers responded to the 700 block of South Orange Grove Boulevard regarding a man with a gun. While driving to the location, officers learned the suspect (male White, 20s) was pointing a semi-automatic pistol at innocent bystanders as he walked along Orange Grove Boulevard. On arrival, PPD officers were initially unable to locate the suspect; however, he was later located hiding in the bushes in the 300 block of Markham Place. Officers immediately contained the area and attempted to negotiate with the suspect; however, he (the suspect) refused to surrender. Officers could clearly see the suspect was armed with a pistol, which created a dangerous situation for the first responders and the neighbors. Using the department’s Bear-Cat Rescue Vehicle, some neighbors were evacuated out of an abundance of caution. PPD officers continued to talk with the suspect and at the same time, established emergency response teams (ERT) who were equipped with less-lethal devices. The ERT team approached the suspect’s location and deployed a Canine Team. The suspect was taken into custody without further incident. Fortunately, no gunshots were fired. Pasadena Police officers recovered a fully loaded semi-automatic pistol and following a field show up, the suspect was positively identified (Jordan Creger, male White, 26). Creger was later transported to a local hospital for medical evaluation.

Clearly, Pasadena Police officers involved in this incident were able to avoid a lethal encounter with Creger. Their courage, sound decision-making, and ability to de-escalate the situation led to a safe outcome for all concerned.