One dead, one arrested after traffic stop results in police chase
What started as an attempted traffic stop ended with one suspect in custody and the other pronounced dead at the scene after a deputy- involved shooting took place in unincorporated Los Angeles November 10th.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau detectives are still investigating an incident that started with a seemingly routine traffic stop on a late Saturday evening. At 10:18 PM, Century Station sheriff deputies attempted to stop a vehicle with two occupants for code violations.
When the pursuit stopped briefly on East 122nd Street near Wilmington, Jose De La Trinidad was shot after exiting the car
As the deputies approached the vehicle, the two Hispanic male occupants sped away, which led to a pursuit going eastbound onto 122nd Street from Wilmington Avenue. The deputies and assisting staff pursued the vehicle until the suspects came to a sudden stop on the 1900 block of East 122nd Street.
According to deputies on the scene, the passenger then emerged from the vehicle and raised his arm from his waistband. Mistaking this gesture as a sign that the suspect had a weapon, two deputies shot at and stuck the man, later identified as 36-year-old Jose De La Trinidad, killing him at the scene.
The driver of the vehicle, who according to media reports was De La Trinidad’s brother Francisco, then drove away from the scene, leading to a second pursuit. He crashed the vehicle at El Segundo Boulevard and Avalon Boulevard before abandoning the car and fleeing on foot. The suspect was later arrested without incident after officers contained the area.
Francisco De La Trinidad finally crashed at El Segundo and Avalon before fleeing on foot
No deputies were injured during the incident. Currently, no weapon has been found either. As with any officer-involved shooting, separate investigations will be filed on the incident by various departments including the Los Angeles County District Attorney, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, and Sheriff’s Internal Affairs Bureau.
The LASD did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call “Crime Stoppers” by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
Read More:
KABC-TV: Autopsy pending after deputy shooting in Willowbrook
NBC-4: Deputies Fatally Shoot Man in Willowbrook
LA Times: Widow of man slain by L.A. County deputies defends him
