Carjacking Manhunt Ends When Nurse Recognizes Suspect

LOS ANGELES, CA — A man wanted in connection with a series of violent carjackings targeting women was arrested Thursday when a hospital staffer recognized him as the suspect of a Los Angeles Police Department manhunt.

Los Angeles police arrested 49-year-old Maurice Latorre in connection with three carjackings in less than seven hours on Saturday in Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights. Several of the attacks were caught on video released by the police department in hopes of quickly catching Latorre. The videos show a man lingering around gas stations and a parking lot waiting to catch women unaware and then attacking as they got into their vehicles.

Latorre had been hospitalized at Los Angeles General Medical Center, where a nurse recognized him and contacted police Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

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.

The first attack happened at about 10:40 a.m. Saturday in the 3200 block of North Broadway in Lincoln Heights.

According to the LAPD, Latorre approached a woman at a gas station gas pump. All three attacks were captured on surveillance cameras.

"The victim entered her vehicle and attempted to close the door when the suspect opened the door and forced his way into the vehicle while pushing the victim towards the passenger seat and demanding her keys," the LAPD announced in a written statement. "A brief struggle ensued, and the victim was able to get the suspect out of her vehicle."

About three hours later at around 1:50 p.m., Latorre approached another woman in the 2100 block of North Broadway, near the Golden State (5) Freeway in Boyle Heights, according to the LAPD.

The woman was getting in her vehicle when the suspect approached 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.

Video showed another women getting into the passenger side of the car with two children when the attack happened. They screamed as he attempted to break in.

According to police, he tried again at about 4:55 p.m.. Latorre 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 her. The two fell to the ground and continued to struggle off-camera until he was pulled off her by a passerby. Seconds later, she returned to the vehicle. Her attacker fled on a silver bicycle.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Hollenbeck Detective Jose Diaz-Ibarra at (323)
342-8981 or Hollenbeck Area Detective Desk at (323) 342-8900.

City News Service contributed to this report.