A Sun Valley store clerk was arrested and booked for suspicion of murder after he chased an alleged attempted robbery suspect and fatally ran him over with his vehicle Saturday, authorities said.
Officers arrived just after midnight to the area of Vineland Avenue and Cantara Street in response to a robbery call and discovered the clerk had chased the suspects who allegedly attempted to rob the store, confronted them, and killed one of them, the Los Angeles Police Department said.
The clerk, 38-year-old Jose Mier of Sun Valley, told officers a suspect pulled a knife and threatened him before he ran over him with his vehicle, police said.
That suspect was identified as Sun Valley resident Alonso Avalos, 18, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
After Mier struck Avalos, a second male suspect opened fire on him, striking his vehicle multiple times, police said.
Then, four female passersby stopped to aid Avalos and one of them picked up a knife and skateboard near the body and attempted to leave with it in a Nissan sedan, police said. The clerk pursued the Nissan, hoping to prevent them from leaving the scene, and rammed it into a building in the 8000 block of Vineland.
The four females were detained and questioned, while the male robbery suspect who fired at the clerk remained at large.
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Detectives determined Mier had left the business in search of the suspects prior to the confrontation with Avalos, police said.
Mier was arrested and booked for suspicion of murder in the Valley Jail on $2 million bail, police said.
