Los Angeles police have nabbed a man accused of killing three homeless men – and a fourth victim gunned down in his garage during a ‘follow-home’ robbery.
On Saturday afternoon, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Michel Moore announced that the man arrested for the murders is 33-year-old Jerrid Joseph Powell.
He is also the prime suspect in the murder of Nicholas Simbolon – a father of two – which took place last Tuesday night in San Dimas.
Moore said the department suspects Powell was responsible for four murders in four days.
The suspect, who is a Los Angeles resident, is alleged to have shot three homeless men across the city from November 26 to November 29.
His vehicle was identified by the police in Beverly Hills last Wednesday. Upon conducting a traffic stop, authorities recovered the gun used in the murders – he was subsequently arrested.
Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, was arrested for the killings of three homeless men in Los Angeles and one San Dimas father of two
An image released by police shows a person suspected in the killings of three homeless people in Los Angeles
On Saturday, Moore said: ‘Over the course of the investigation of our murders, we were able to identify the vehicle we believe is connected to our three homicides as being the same vehicle that Mr. Powell used in the murder of Mr. Simbolon.’
‘[We learned] that it was being held in custody of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as evidence of their murder.
LA County Sheriff Robert Luna discussed the use of the controversial license plate reader system law enforcement officers sometimes use to identify suspicious vehicles.
‘We know there’s controversy out there about the usage of this system, but let me tell our community something. If we did not enter that plate into the system, this individual that we believe is responsible for at least four murders may have [still] been out there and reoffended,’ he said.
Detectives in Beverly Hills identified a vehicle that may have been involved in Sambolon’s murder the night before and plugged the license plate into the automated reader system, which led to the traffic stop and Powell’s eventual arrest.
He was ultimately arrested for the follow home murder of Sambolon as well as the three homeless men. Powell was described as a convicted felon with ‘violence in his background.’ Further details of his past convictions were not shared.
‘The next objective is to put this guy away at minimum forever, because he doesn’t deserve to be out on the street,’ said Luna.
LA Mayor Karen Bass lauded the police and sheriff’s departments for their speedy work.
‘Twenty-four hours ago, we announced there was a killer on the loose, now he is in custody,’ she said.
‘Right after the conclusion of yesterday’s press conference, my office was able to convene more than four hundred people representing city departments, housing service providers, regional agencies … and elected officials at the city and county level to ensure that they would [get the word out] about the threat facing our unhoused community.’
LAPD Chief Michel Moore delivered an update to the case on Saturday
LA Mayor Karen Bass commended the local authorities for their swift operation in identifying and arresting the alleged murderer
The suspect was apprehended after authorities ran the plates of a suspicious vehicle in Beverly Hills
One of the men was fatally shot as he slept against a wall
Police had been searching for the gunman responsible for murdering three homeless men as they slept in different parts of the city.
Authorities believed the same person was responsible for all three deaths, which occurred in the early hours of last Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday.
All three victims were men sleeping in open areas, like alleys or sidewalks.
One of the men’s murders was described by Moore as ‘brutal’ and ‘ruthless.’
A motive for the killings has not yet been established.