Two Long Beach teenagers were arrested by police Friday on suspicion of being involved in the stabbing death of a Los Angeles man aboard a Metro A (Blue) Line train earlier this week, authorities said Saturday, April 15.
Akili Collins, 18, and Melake Daniel, 19, were taken into custody in the 900 block of East Broadway, police said. Collins was booked into jail on suspicion of murder and was being held on $2 million bail, while Daniel was booked on suspicion of being an accessory after the fact and being held on $1 million bail.
The location of the arrests is about a mile east of the station where officers found the victim, identified by police as Luis Fernando Polita, 25, of Los Angeles.
Polita boarded a southbound A Line train somewhere north of Long Beach Wednesday afternoon, police have said. Three other men boarded the train after it had crossed into Long Beach, confronted Polita and began fighting with him, police said.
At one point, one of the men pulled a knife and stabbed him multiple times, police said. The three men ran away once the train stopped at the downtown Long Beach station.
Detectives believe a dispute that originated on the train was what sparked the fight, police said, but what the dispute was about was not known.
Police declined to say whether Daniel was one of the three men who boarded the train, or if he was trying to help Collins avoid arrest after the fact.
Detectives plan to present their case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration next week, police said.
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