Photo: LAPD
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A 49-year-old man suspected of three attempted carjackings in less than seven hours on Saturday in Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights was taken into custody Thursday at a hospital, where a staffer recognized him and notified police.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, Maurice Latorre had been hospitalized at Los Angeles General Medical Center, and a nurse recognized him and called police late Thursday morning.
No other details of the arrest were immediately released. Police had been seeking the public's help in finding Latorre, and had circulated his photo via news outlets and social media.
At about 10:40 a.m. Saturday, officers responded to the 3200 block of North Broadway in Lincoln Heights after Latorre allegedly approached a woman pumping gas at a gas station, according to the LAPD.
Latorre allegedly entered her vehicle, pushed the woman toward the passenger seat, and demanded her keys moments before exiting the car and running away after a brief struggle with the victim, according to the LAPD.
At around 1:50 p.m., Latorre allegedly approached another woman in the 2100 block of North Broadway, near the Golden State (5) Freeway in Boyle Heights, while the victim was entering her vehicle and demanded her keys.
``The suspect grabbed onto the driver's side door, and a struggle ensued. The suspect then let go of the door and smashed the driver's window with a hard object before fleeing the area on foot," police said in a statement.
That same day, around 4:55 p.m., Latorre allegedly approached a third woman in the 2900 block of East Cesar E. Chavez Avenue, between Soto and Indiana streets in Boyle Heights, at a gas station, where police said he entered the victim's vehicle, grabbed onto the driver's side door, and pulled it open.
Police said the woman was pulled from the vehicle as Latorre continued to assault the victim until he was pulled off the woman by a passerby and fled on a silver bicycle.
