Authorities are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of a man found in a vacant lot next to a white bicycle in Los Angeles County during the early morning hours of Thursday, according to the sheriff's department.
Deputies responded to a "person down" call at 3:20 a.m. in the 14900 block of Janetdale Street in Valinda, an unincorporated area of the San Gabriel Valley.
A woman who claimed to be the man's girlfriend and mother to his 1-year-old child said he came to her window Wednesday night at about 11 p.m. He looked scared and wanted to come in to use her phone, she added.
According to her, before she could let him in, he disappeared. She said he was a transient who spent a lot of time in the neighborhood because of their relationship.
His mother rushed to the scene after getting word her son had been killed and identified him as 25-year-old Victor Pacheco, of Ontario.
Witnesses said they saw Pacheco riding a white bicycle being chased by a blue truck earlier in the night. The next time anyone saw him, he was lying in a vacant lot, beaten to death.
"We are processing the crime scene, there is some evidence that we believe is going to generate possibly some forensic evidence," Detective Quilmes Rodriguez said, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. "We believe that weapons are at the scene."
It was unclear what weapons Rodriguez spoke about, but witnesses said several bricks were found near Pacheco's body.
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Authorities said his death may have been the result of a personal dispute. Pacheco's beating was so brutal, investigators suspected there may have been more than one attacker.
Anyone with information is asked to call 323-890-5500.
