Sun Valley store clerk arrested after fatally running over attempted robbery suspect
SUN VALLEY, Calif. - A Sun Valley store clerk was arrested and booked for suspicion of murder after he killed an alleged attempted robbery suspect
by running him over with his vehicle.
Officers arrived just after midnight Saturday 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.
Sun Valley resident Alonso Avalos, 18, 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.
Soon after, four female passersby stopped to aid Avalos, at that time police say one of them picked up a knife and skateboard near the body and attempted to leave with it in a Nissan sedan. The clerk pursued the Nissan, hoping to prevent them from leaving the scene. The driver of the Nissan then crashed into a building on the 8000 block of Vineland.
The four females were detained and questioned, while the male robbery suspect who fired at the clerk remains at large.
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.