Local News in Brief : Man Held in Fatal Knifing
An argument between two men outside a Wilmington union hall late Friday has left one man dead and the other in jail.
Police Saturday arrested Ralph Lopez, 29, of Wilmington for suspicion of murder in connection with the stabbing at the Pile Drivers’, Bridge, Wharf & Dock Builders Union, Local 2375, hall at 728 Lagoon Ave., said Harbor Division Detective Kim Wierman.
The victim, Mark Chamberlain, 31, of Wilmington was taken to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Harbor City, where he died at 3:45 a.m. Saturday.
Union members were in the parking lot drinking beer at the end of a monthly meeting when Lopez and Chamberlain got into an argument that escalated into a fistfight, Wierman said. The two had stopped fighting and resumed their argument, police said, when Lopez pulled a pocketknife and slashed Chamberlain on the throat.
Police have previously cited union members for drinking outside the hall, Wierman said.
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