Torrance Police Kill Suspect After Robbery, Shooting

Torrance police officers Sunday shot and killed one of two armed-robbery suspects 15 minutes after they allegedly wounded a Redondo Beach man and stole his Mercedes-Benz convertible at a Torrance mini-mart station.

Police said the slain suspect, Saul Carrillo, 20, of Los Angeles, was shot several times as he suddenly reached into the back seat after crashing the Mercedes on the Harbor Freeway.

The other suspect, Oscar Quezada, 21, of Los Angeles, was arrested a short time later in a separate getaway car, police said. He is being held in Los Angeles County Jail after being arraigned on charges of attempted murder and robbery.

The robbers confronted Ray Castro of Redondo Beach while he was outside his car at the Arco mini-mart at Crenshaw and Torrance boulevards about 7:30 p.m. Sunday, said Sgt. Ron Traber.

Police said witnesses told them that the robbers demanded money from Castro before shooting him in the buttocks, then fled east on Torrance Boulevard, one in Castro’s Mercedes 450 SL and the other in the blue Pontiac in which they had arrived.

Two officers spotted the stolen car heading north on the Harbor Freeway near 190th Street with its emergency flashers on, Traber said.

The officers chased the Mercedes until it crashed near the Rosecrans Avenue off-ramp. When police ordered Carrillo out of the car, he suddenly reached toward the back seat, Traber said.

Both officers opened fire, hitting Carrillo several times. Carrillo, described as a gang member who was on parole from the California Youth Authority, was declared dead at the scene, Traber said.

“They were aware that he was armed and knew that somebody already had been shot, so they interpreted his movement to be one of reaching for a weapon,” Traber said. A loaded, cocked gun was found inside the Mercedes, he said.

Police arrested Quezada as he sat in the blue Pontiac in the traffic tie-up caused by the crash of the Mercedes, Traber said.

Castro was treated at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and released. Police said Carrillo apparently fired the shot that injured Castro.