padre

It’s where the padres of the San Gabriel mission lived for a time, and it’s reputedly where the first orange seedlings in California were planted.

In fact, Verdugo said, the padre is in the habit of giving away things that are gifted to him.

After running a routine check for arrest warrants, they quickly realized they were face to face with what so many had been searching for — the alleged pilfering padre.

“But my parents … mi padres … they told me to learn English,” she explains.

The padre had always had a warm spot for the young man with a sly sense of humor and delicate “LA” tattooed beside his left eye.