Los Angeles police announced Thursday that they have arrested a man who attempted at least three carjackings Saturday in Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights.
Maurice LaTorre is accused of approaching a woman at a gas station in the 3200 block of North Broadway around 10:40 a.m. Saturday and attempting to force her into her car. Police said the man then made similar attempts on two other women around 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
The 49-year-old man was admitted to Los Angeles General Medical Center. But after police circulated video footage of the attempted carjacking, a nurse at the hospital recognized him and alerted authorities.
Police said Latorre drove himself to the hospital.
Lipidio Orozco of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollenbeck Police Department said he did not know the severity of his illness, but said, “He suffers from a mental illness.”
Investigators believe Latorre may be homeless.
“Any time there is a series of crimes like this, it obviously creates tension within our community,” he said. Chapter Chris Mayberry said. “We all have families. We have daughters, we have wives. It’s clear to all of us that he targets women, and that’s a big concern for us.”
While some women in the neighborhood said they were relieved Latorre was no longer on the street, others said they still feared for their safety.
“I don’t even come out. I come out to go to work and go home,” said one woman. All we want to do is protect our children from having to go through what’s going on in this world. ”
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