L.A. police search for additional cases tied to killings of homeless men
Authorities across Southern California are reviewing other cases to determine whether a man charged with killing three homeless men and a Los Angeles County employee might be responsible for more slayings, officials said.
“An information bulletin has gone out throughout the region looking for additional cases,” Los Angeles Police Capt. Kelly Muniz said. “We are not aware of any additional cases related to this suspect.”
Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, was charged Monday with four counts of murder, one count of robbery and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has not entered a plea in the case, and he was remanded into custody without bail pending arraignment in January.
Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, was charged with four counts of murder. Prosecutors say he gunned down three homeless men and a robbery victim in a four-day span last week.
Prosecutors also filed special circumstances allegations claiming Powell committed multiple murders. If convicted as charged, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Authorities say the string of attacks began before dawn on Nov. 26. About 3:10 a.m., 37-year-old Jose Bolanos was shot while sleeping on a couch near 110th Street and Vermont Avenue.
Roughly 24 hours later, 62-year-old Mark Diggs was shot on San Mateo Street near the Arts District as he pushed a shopping cart and looked for a place to charge his phone, prosecutors said.
Around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, a third victim — identified in charging documents as Shawn Alvarez, 52 — was shot and killed in Lincoln Heights, police said.
Powell was arrested Wednesday night in Beverly Hills during a traffic stop after his car was linked to a fatal shooting three days earlier in San Dimas.
Nicholas Simbolon, an employee of the Los Angeles County chief executive’s office, was killed in what police have termed a “follow-home robbery.” Simbolon’s wife found the 42-year-old with a gunshot wound, slumped inside his Tesla in the garage of their home on Hawkbrook Drive, according to Sheriff Robert Luna, who said the shooter stole a few things during the targeted attack.
Police say Powell fled the scene in a 2024 BMW M440i. The vehicle was spotted in Beverly Hills three days later by officers, who initiated a traffic stop and took Powell into custody.
He wasn’t linked to the killings of the homeless men until late Friday or early Saturday, police said.
Times staff writers James Queally and Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.
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