L.A. man arrested for allegedly killing 4 people, including 3 homeless men
12/05/2023 12:22 pm PST
LOS ANGELES (TCD) -- Homicide detectives arrested a 33-year-old man believed to have killed four people, including three homeless men, during a crime spree that lasted four days.
According to Los Angeles Police Chief Michael Moore, on Sunday, Nov. 26, at approximately 3 a.m., officers from the department’s Southeast division responded to an alley on the 800 block of West 10th Street and found a male on a couch deceased from a gunshot wound. Moore identified the victim as 37-year-old Jose Bolanos.
About 24 hours later, on Nov. 27 at 4:55 a.m., a second male, 62-year-old Mark Diggs, was found deceased on a rear wall on East 7th Street in Downtown Los Angeles. Diggs was reportedly pushing a shopping cart, stopped, and plugged his phone into an outlet when the suspect gunned him down in the early morning hours.
Moore called Diggs' death "chilling" and "cold-blooded."
The third killing occurred Wednesday, Nov. 29, at about 2:30 a.m., in the Hollenbeck division, which involved the fatal shooting of a 52-year-old man who was sleeping on the sidewalk. Moore did not release his name.
Moore said the three killings appeared similar because the victims were all in an open area, alone, and experiencing homelessness. There was no evidence of a dispute or argument. Surveillance images captured blurry images of a suspect, who Moore said could only be described as a male who drove a 2024 BMW 440i sedan.
The suspect, Jerrid Powell, is also believed to have been involved in another fatal shooting, but not of a homeless man. On Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 6:55 p.m., Nicholas Simbolon pulled into his house on the 1800 block of Hawkbrook Drive in San Dimas. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department alleges Powell approached Simbolon, then robbed and shot him in the upper body. Simbolon’s wife found him and called 911, but he did not survive his injuries.
Simbolon worked for the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office as a project manager in the I.T. department.
Investigators believe Powell followed Simbolon home from an electric car charging station. Detectives were able to identify the suspect’s car as a 2024 BMW 440i.
On Nov. 29 at 9:15 p.m., automated license plate readers in Beverly Hills alerted the city’s watch center, which led to Beverly Hills Police Department officers conducting a traffic stop on the vehicle that matched the description of the car at Simbolon’s house. Police looked in his car and found a firearm that allegedly connects him to the four shootings.
Beverly Hills Police arrested Powell, then transferred him to custody of the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department. He was booked on charges of robbery and murder.
On Monday, Dec. 4, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office announced Powell was being charged with four counts of murder, one count of residential robbery, and one count of being a felon with a firearm. The district attorney’s office said Powell faces special circumstances for "committing multiple murders and murder in the course of a robbery, as well as personal use of a firearm allegations."
If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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