A Temecula man was arrested in downtown Los Angeles after police said he purposely rammed at least 10 other vehicles while he drove around Echo Park and Chinatown, leaving 13 people with minor injuries.
Diosdado Tzintzunespindo, 37, was arrested at 1717 Main St. just before noon on Monday, May 3, after a bizarre series of crashes spanning about three miles through dense neighborhoods just north of central downtown, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Detectives said Tzintzunespindo, driving a 2004 Nissan Xterra, hit at least two other vehicles along a stretch of Hill Street that runs from government buildings in downtown north into Chinatown.
He hit at least two more while driving along College Street from Chinatown into Victor Heights, another densely packed neighborhood of mostly apartment buildings that backs up to Chavez Ravine on the far eastern edge of Echo Park, just north of Sunset Boulevard.
While in Victor Heights, police said, Tzintzunespindo drove in a loop from College to Centennial and Apline streets, hitting at least two more vehicles. He hit another while driving on Figueroa Terrace past New Depot Street, where the southbound 110 Freeway empties into the neighborhood.
None of the victims was seriously injured, LAPD Chief Michel Moore said during Tuesday’s Police Commission meeting.
Tzintzunespindo “purposely rammed multiple cars,” Moore said, but why remained unclear.
He hit cars that were parked and others that were idling in traffic.
Moore said at least some of the victims were city employees. It wasn’t clear if Tzintzunespindo targeted them.
It’s also not clear why the Temecula man was driving in downtown L.A. more than 85 miles from where he lives.
Officials in LAPD’s Central Area did not know if Tzintzunespindo said anything when he was arrested. A detective investigating the crashes declined to give comment Tuesday.
Moore and other LAPD officials said because the crashes all appear deliberate, they were…
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