4th Youth Arrested in Slaying of Man Who Interrupted Theft

Police on Wednesday arrested the last of four young men accused in the killing of a North Hollywood man who was shot when he tried to prevent a car theft April 2.

Roland Russell, 18, of North Hollywood was in custody on an unrelated car theft charge when officers booked him on suspicion of murder, said Los Angeles Police Detective Mike Coffey. Officers had arrested Russell in North Hollywood on Friday when they noticed that he was driving a stolen car, Coffey said. The officers were not aware that Russell was suspected in the killing, he said.

Coffey said statements by witnesses led detectives to suspect that Russell was involved in the killing. Russell is to be arraigned today in San Fernando Municipal Court, authorities said.

Darris Garvin, 37, was killed after he spotted four young men trying to steal a neighbor’s pickup truck in the garage of the apartment complex where he lived, police said. Garvin had chased the four for about a block when one of them shot him with a handgun, police said. Garvin later died at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

Police last week arrested three juveniles on suspicion of murder. The three, who are affiliated with a North Hollywood gang, are scheduled to be arraigned next week in Sylmar Juvenile Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Edward Nison said. Nison said he will ask that they be tried as adults.