Los Angeles police have arrested a suspect in the shooting deaths of four men over a few days throughout the metropolitan area, with three of the victims being homeless.
LAPD Police Chief Michel Moore said Saturday that officers charged Jerrid Joseph Powell, 33, with murder in connection to the “senseless” killings, for which police have yet to establish a motive.
Mr. Powell is scheduled to appear in court Monday. He is being held on $2 million bail.
The chief said law enforcement was able to get a bead on Mr. Powell, who has past felony convictions, after the Tuesday night killing of 42-year-old Nicholas Simbolon, the third of the four deaths.
Authorities said Mr. Powell followed the victim to his home in San Dimas before robbing and fatally shooting him.
Police received information about a 2024 BMW belonging to the suspect at the scene of the San Dimas shooting.
Beverly Hills police spotted the car early Thursday and arrested Mr. Powell in connection to the slaying. A weapon recovered inside Mr. Powell’s car has been tied to all four shootings, according to police.
LAPD said Mr. Powell was behind three other deadly shootings, which started Nov. 26 and targeted homeless men.
Around 3 a.m. that morning, police said Jose Bolanos, 37, was found dead from a gunshot wound in a South Los Angeles alleyway.
Another homeless man, 62-year-old Mark Diggs, was shot dead around 5 a.m. Monday while pushing a shopping cart near downtown Los Angeles.
Authorities accused Mr. Powell of killing a 52-year-old homeless man around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday in the Lincoln Heights area. Police said they’re withholding the man’s identity until his next of kin can be notified.
Each of the homeless men who were killed were either lying down or were getting ready to go to sleep, police said.
“It was chilling, and I’ve been in this work for four-plus decades,” Chief Moore said about the killing of Mr. Diggs. “The cold-blooded manner in which he walks up and shoots this individual without any hesitation, no interactions.”
Police said they waited until Saturday to announce the arrest because they needed more time to establish a link between the slaying of Mr. Simbolon and the three homeless men.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.