A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death three family members at a Baldwin Park home Thursday night, Dec. 26. He was stopped after he attempted to speed away in a car before crashing in the cul-de-sac, authorities said.
Baldwin Park police were called to the 4700 block of Bogart Avenue just after 6:45 p.m. regarding a disturbance and found the victims with multiple stab wounds to their upper bodies, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
A possible weapon was seen at the location, sheriff’s Lt. Michael Modica said. He declined to elaborate.
Alexis Galicia, 28, who lives on a nearby street, said the sound of a helicopter woke him up. Then he heard screaming. It was around 6 p.m.
“Just a little girl screaming for help,” Galicia said.
The original call to police came from a neighbor, Modica said. When officers arrived, they spotted someone who “accelerated rapidly out of the driveway and then crashed within the cul-de-sac,” Modica said.
The car had backed out and crashed into a neighbor’s fence, he said. Shortly after that, the driver got out and was detained by officers without incident. He was later arrested on suspicion of murder and booked at the Baldwin Park jail.
Detectives have not released the suspect’s name or said what may have led to the stabbings.
“ I can tell you that there’s no threat to the community. This was not a random act of violence,” Modica said.
The victims were a male and two females, whose ages were not disclosed. The medical examiner’s office has not yet publicly identified them.
The suspect and the three victims are related, but investigators declined to give further specifics on those relationships “out of respect for the family of the victims,” officials said in a news release.
The suspect lived at the house, but authorities did not say whether the victims resided there, as well.
A van from the Medical Examiner’s Office arrived shortly before 9:30 a.m. on Friday. An officer lowered the police tape to allow the van to enter the cul-de-sac.
Da Li, who lives near the house on Bogart Avenue, said he also heard screaming on Thursday night. He thought it was sometime between 7:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., which apparently was after law enforcement arrived.
“I stay in my house,” Li said. “I heard screaming outside. I don’t know what happened.”
He didn’t know the people who lived at the house. He had seen an older man smoking in the garden several times.
Yvette Gonzalez, who lives on a street near the cul-de-sac, heard an ambulance and fire trucks on Thursday night and went outside with her son around 7 p.m. She saw a SWAT team and officers from the Baldwin Park and Irwindale police departments. She saw officers close off the cul-de-sac with the yellow tape.
A woman with a child was taken to the police station to be interviewed, Gonzalez said. She found out later from the news that three people had been stabbed.
“I feel for the family,” Gonzalez said.
“I appreciate the swift action of our Baldwin Park police officers that resulted in the arrest … ” Baldwin Park police Chief Robert Lopez said. “This is a terrible tragedy at a time of year that should be about joy and family. Our community expresses its deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims.”
The Sheriff’s Department has taken over the investigation. Authorities asked that anyone with information about the case call the Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tipsters can call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or go to lacrimestoppers.org.
