Man killed while trying to stop shoplifter in parking lot of strip mall
By Dean Fioresi
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California (KCAL/KCBS) — A man was killed while he was trying to stop a shoplifter in the parking lot of a South El Monte strip mall on Wednesday afternoon.
It happened at around 12:20 p.m. in the 2000 block of Durfee Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
Deputies say that they were called to the area after learning of a hit-and-run crash outside of “the family owned and operated ‘Giant Discount Store.'”
When they arrived, they found a man suffering from blunt force trauma in the parking lot.
“During their initial investigation, deputies learned the victim was visiting his brother’s place of business when 2-3 suspects entered the ‘Giant Discount Store’ and stole merchandise,” LASD’s press release said. “The victim chased the suspects into the parking and a physical altercation took place.”
Investigators say that one of the suspects got into a car, a dark-colored sedan, and “deliberately struck the victim several times.”
Paramedics were called to the scene and pronounced the victim dead. He has been identified by family members as 63-year-old Kourosh “Steve” Yaghoubi.
“I had my finger in his mouth to make sure he can breath,” said Yaghoubi’s older brother Jamshit. “There was blood all over his head, and he died.”
He says that the entire ordeal happened when his brother chased the thieves who took a box of surgical masks worth $10.
The other suspects ran from the area in unknown directions, deputies said.
Anyone who knows more is asked to contact LASD’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.
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