Automobile Theft Los Angeles

The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $25,000 reward for information on the killing of Heidi Vargas, 22, who was apparently shot during an aborted carjacking attempt in Eagle Rock. Police believe Vargas was confronted by a gunman as she exited the Ventura Freeway at Figueroa Street on July 29, Los Angeles Police Detective Art Placencia said. Passersby found her body inside her car in a nearby alley.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man shortly after a carjacking and brutal attack on a couple in Sherman Oaks, the second such incident to occur on the same block in as many months. Joseph Navar Downey was being held in the Monday night assault of a man and a woman that began in a parking lot on a block crowded with restaurants and other businesses, police said. The incident began around 9:30 p.m.

Police arrested a 22-year-old man shortly after a carjacking and brutal attack on a couple in Sherman Oaks, the second such incident to occur on the same block in as many months. Joseph Navar Downey was being held in the Monday night assault of a man and a woman that began in a parking lot on a block crowded with restaurants and other businesses, police said. The incident began around 9:30 p.m.

A 34-year-old transient was arrested Monday on suspicion of stealing a car Sunday from a Pacoima motel manager who was then killed by a passing car as he chased the thief. Albert Cavazos, who was living at the Villa Las Palmas motel on San Fernando Road, was being held on suspicion of murder, but it will be up to the district attorney's office to decide what charges will be filed against him, said Det. Lindy Gligorijevic of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division.

A distraught fugitive, brandishing a gun and driving a stolen station wagon, barricaded himself in a San Gabriel Valley cemetery for three hours Thursday before surrendering peacefully, authorities said. Sheriff's Deputy Rich Erikson said James Dale Parker, 30, of Moreno Valley, had entered Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Covina Hills shortly before 3 p.m., careening around the cemetery until a worker reported him.

After a wild chase Tuesday night through North Hollywood and Lakewood and then to the Burbank Airport, police captured three suspected carjackers when an airport police car rammed the vehicle, police said. Police said the three men had stolen the Jeep at about 10:15 Tuesday night from a man who stopped at a phone booth near Vineland Avenue and Oxnard Street in North Hollywood. The men robbed the unidentified man, stole his car and sped off, said LAPD spokesman Eduardo Funes.

Two men who allegedly robbed a Westwood jewelry store Friday were arrested after ditching their getaway van, carjacking a Mercedes-Benz and leading police on a chase to Glendale, where they crashed the stolen car, authorities said. In custody late Friday were Dean Paulino and Dennis Plunkett, both 18-year-olds from South Los Angeles, police said. Both were booked on suspicion of armed robbery.

A 34-year-old transient was arrested Monday on suspicion of stealing a car Sunday from a Pacoima motel manager who was then killed by a passing car as he chased the thief. Albert Cavazos, who was living at the Villa Las Palmas motel on San Fernando Road, was being held on suspicion of murder, but it will be up to the district attorney's office to decide what charges will be filed against him, said Det. Lindy Gligorijevic of the Los Angeles Police Department's Foothill Division.

David Hillo, the surviving tagger shot during a nationally publicized confrontation in Sun Valley, has been arrested on a charge of grand theft auto, Los Angeles police said Saturday. Hillo, 20, of North Hollywood, had been scheduled to turn himself in Friday morning to begin a 20-day jail sentence for vandalism. The conviction stemmed from the Jan. 31 spray-painting spree that led to his confrontation with William Masters, an armed pedestrian who said he fired his weapon in self-defense.

A 29-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday when he fled sheriff's deputies after a carjacking and crashed into a light pole. The man, whose name was not released, was taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after the crash at 220th Street and Avalon Boulevard, Deputy Mark Bailey said. Investigators believe the crash victim was one of two assailants who pistol-whipped a 22-year-old man in Carson about 11:35 p.m. Monday and stole his 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier.

After a wild chase Tuesday night through North Hollywood and Lakewood and then to the Burbank Airport, police captured three suspected carjackers when an airport police car rammed the vehicle, police said. Police said the three men had stolen the Jeep at about 10:15 Tuesday night from a man who stopped at a phone booth near Vineland Avenue and Oxnard Street in North Hollywood. The men robbed the unidentified man, stole his car and sped off, said LAPD spokesman Eduardo Funes.

A 29-year-old man was hospitalized in critical condition Tuesday when he fled sheriff's deputies after a carjacking and crashed into a light pole. The man, whose name was not released, was taken to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center after the crash at 220th Street and Avalon Boulevard, Deputy Mark Bailey said. Investigators believe the crash victim was one of two assailants who pistol-whipped a 22-year-old man in Carson about 11:35 p.m. Monday and stole his 1987 Chevrolet Cavalier.

The Los Angeles City Council is offering a $25,000 reward for information on the killing of Heidi Vargas, 22, who was apparently shot during an aborted carjacking attempt in Eagle Rock. Police believe Vargas was confronted by a gunman as she exited the Ventura Freeway at Figueroa Street on July 29, Los Angeles Police Detective Art Placencia said. Passersby found her body inside her car in a nearby alley.

David Hillo, the surviving tagger shot during a nationally publicized confrontation in Sun Valley, has been arrested on a charge of grand theft auto, Los Angeles police said Saturday. Hillo, 20, of North Hollywood, had been scheduled to turn himself in Friday morning to begin a 20-day jail sentence for vandalism. The conviction stemmed from the Jan. 31 spray-painting spree that led to his confrontation with William Masters, an armed pedestrian who said he fired his weapon in self-defense.

A man driving a stolen car ran down and killed three women college students in a crosswalk in Bell on Thursday morning, police said. They said the driver sped away, but his car--disabled in a subsequent crash--sputtered to a halt and he was grabbed by passersby and arrested by police in Huntington Park. A fourth woman student struck in the crosswalk was injured but is expected to survive.

They sparkle and beckon, luring the eye into an intricate, mesmerizing tunnel of deep-set cold, shiny chrome or gold-plated spokes. Wheel rims make the car, transforming even a rusty junker into a flashy, cherried-out ride. "Killer rims," they're called, $1,500 to $7,000 a set. And now they are living up to their name.

A man driving a stolen car ran down and killed three women college students in a crosswalk in Bell on Thursday morning, police said. They said the driver sped away, but his car--disabled in a subsequent crash--sputtered to a halt and he was grabbed by passersby and arrested by police in Huntington Park. A fourth woman student struck in the crosswalk was injured but is expected to survive.

They sparkle and beckon, luring the eye into an intricate, mesmerizing tunnel of deep-set cold, shiny chrome or gold-plated spokes. Wheel rims make the car, transforming even a rusty junker into a flashy, cherried-out ride. "Killer rims," they're called, $1,500 to $7,000 a set. And now they are living up to their name.

Two men who allegedly robbed a Westwood jewelry store Friday were arrested after ditching their getaway van, carjacking a Mercedes-Benz and leading police on a chase to Glendale, where they crashed the stolen car, authorities said. In custody late Friday were Dean Paulino and Dennis Plunkett, both 18-year-olds from South Los Angeles, police said. Both were booked on suspicion of armed robbery.

A distraught fugitive, brandishing a gun and driving a stolen station wagon, barricaded himself in a San Gabriel Valley cemetery for three hours Thursday before surrendering peacefully, authorities said. Sheriff's Deputy Rich Erikson said James Dale Parker, 30, of Moreno Valley, had entered Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Covina Hills shortly before 3 p.m., careening around the cemetery until a worker reported him.