Police Locate Killing Suspect--He’s in Jail

A man sought in the Dec. 15 slaying of an armored car guard in Bellflower is in custody in the San Bernardino County Jail, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

The arrest last week of Marchand Elliott was announced just as deputies were speeding to the scene of a Lakewood holdup in which a 25-year-old armored car guard was fatally shot.

Elliott, 20, is suspected of shooting Patrick Rooney, 35, as the guard made a cash pickup at the Lucky Food Center on Lakewood Boulevard in Bellflower. Police said they believe that Elliott belongs to a gang that has carried out a string of armored car robberies in the Southland over the last 15 months.

Elliott was arrested March 11 in Ontario after he shot himself in the leg while struggling with another man whom he is accused of attempting to rob, Ontario Detective Jim Vandever said. Elliott, who police said had taken the man’s car key, ran from the scene after the shooting and was found hiding in some bushes about half a mile away, Vandever said.

At first, he identified himself to police as Billy Darnell Bailey; his true identity was discovered during a routine fingerprint check, Sheriff’s Deputy George Ducoulombier said. Although Elliott told police he lives in Moreno Valley in Riverside County, Los Angeles police believe that he lives in South-Central Los Angeles.

The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office has charged Elliott with armed robbery and attempting to steal an automobile. Los Angeles authorities will charge Elliott with murder in the Bellflower slaying, Ducoulombier said .