Carjacking victim dies after being dragged under SUV by murder suspect fleeing LAPD
A man wanted on suspicion of murder was arrested Thursday night after carjacking a motorist in South Los Angeles and leading police on a wild chase, which resulted in the carjacking victim's death as he was dragged under his SUV for more than two miles, police said.
Joshua Reneau, 31, who was already wanted in a fatal shooting in July, was taken into custody after crashing the stolen vehicle near the intersection of Prairie and Florence avenues in Inglewood, Los Angeles police said. The unidentified carjacking victim died near the crash scene.
Reneau was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries suffered when the SUV rolled, police said. He will face additional charges in connection with the death of the victim in the carjacking, police said.
The incident began about 5 p.m. when detectives saw a murder suspect, later identified as Reneau, in the 5900 block of 7th Avenue, just north of Inglewood, police said.
Reneau got into the back seat of a Toyota Prius, police said. Officers tried to stop the car but the driver fled.
The Prius crashed near Florence and Haas avenues after a short chase, police said.
Reneau ran from the crashed vehicle and carjacked a motorist in a gray SUV, police said. The victim became entangled in a seat belt as Reneau forced him from the SUV, and was dragged underneath the vehicle as Reneau fled.
The chase came to an end after Reneau hit several police cars before flipping the SUV at Florence and Prairie avenues, police said. The carjacking victim was pronounced dead.
After the crash, Reneau and officers were locked in an hours-long standoff.
“The murder suspect refused to comply with officers’ instructions and exit the vehicle,” police said. “SWAT and K9 were on scene and negotiated with the murder suspect to exit the vehicle for two hours. The murder suspect was ultimately taken into custody without incident.”
The driver of the first vehicle, 34-year-old Jamal Sutherland of Los Angeles, was arrested on a felony evasion charge. It wasn't immediately clear whether he was injured in the crash.
Police had already identified Reneau as a suspect in two shootings, one fatal, in July in the West Valley. On Thursday, detectives arrested two other suspects in the shootings, Derek Hall, 28, of West Covina and Miracole Brown, 20, of South Los Angeles. Both were booked on charges of robbery and murder.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
