Eight New Officers Join Newhall CHP Ranks

Eight fresh faces join the local law enforcement community.

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Local highways will be the training ground for eight new
officers of the California Highway Patrol, as the seven men and one woman
started learning the ropes at the Newhall office today.

CHP Public Information Officer John Lutz said the recent
academy graduates will spend time with various training officers learning about the department and procedures before taking
to the roads with their primary trainers.

The Newhall office has been called one of the most diverse
in the state because of the wide spectrum of weather and incidents – from snow
closures to fires, to earthquakes and the concentration of freeways in the area
from Bakersfield to the San
Fernando Valley. Officers from the Newhall station are responsible
for traffic enforcement on the I-5, the 138, the 14, the 118 and the 210
freeways, as well as all unincorporated roads in and around the area, including
the communities of Castaic and Stevenson Ranch.

“The hard part is getting to know the area, especially Santa
Clarita,” Lutz said. “They have to know the quickest way to get from point A to
point B.”

Of the eight newcomers, two are carrying on a CHP family
tradition. Adam Tondreau, 30, of Pine Mountain Club is the son of retired
Maurice “Mo” Tondreau who worked 25 years in the Ft.
Tejon office. Bobby Rhoades, 23, of
Bakersfield, is the son of Sgt.
Mark Rhoades, who has worked the Ft. Tejon
office for nearly 30 years. His brothers Mark and Curtis are also CHP officers,
Mark has worked the Castro Valley office for 4 years and
Curtis has been assigned to Newhall for two years and the boys’ uncle, Sgt.
John Rhoades, retired from the Santa Maria
office.

Other new CHP officers include Marino Hernandez, 23, of
Piru; Aaron Maurer, 26 of Santa Clarita; Luis Oliva, 28, of Los Angeles; Scott
Leatherman, 32, of Visalia, Jeremiah Hart, 31, of Palmdale and Julie Plummer,.
25, of Visalia.