Suspect Caught in Illegal U-Turn Ends Up Confessing to Homicide

When Los Angeles police finally caught up with a motorist they had been chasing on the San Diego Freeway early Wednesday, they got more than they bargained for: a confession in a murder case.

“He copped,” said Detective Don Bellante. “He said, ‘I’m the one you’ve been looking for.’

“They said, ‘For what,’ and he said, ‘For the murder.’ ”

It all started when two officers observed a late model Corvette making an illegal U-turn in Van Nuys. When they tried to stop the car, the driver led them on a 100-m.p.h.-chase onto Mulholland Drive. A radio check of the license plate number showed the car had been reported stolen, said Detective Dennis Ulick of the LAPD’s Valley Traffic Division.

When police finally caught up with driver Kurt Allensworth near the intersection of Mulholland and Beverly Drive, they planned to ask him about the car. He was a bit more talkative then they expected.

In a “spontaneous declaration,” Allensworth, 29, of Northridge confessed to the Sept. 27 slaying of a suspected San Fernando Valley drug dealer following a “drug deal gone bad,” according to Ulick. He said Allensworth was a convicted drug abuser who was high on crack cocaine during the car chase.

Police already had been gathering evidence against Allensworth in the slaying of a suspected drug dealer--Rick Comi--but Allensworth was wanted only for questioning at the time of his arrest, Ulick said.

Allensworth’s initial conversation with the officers was taped by a KFWB reporter who happened to be on the scene. In it, Allensworth can be heard mumbling something about his involvement in an apparent drug deal. “Oh, you killed that guy!” responded Officer Thomas Hickey, according to the tape and officers.

Police said Allensworth was buying cocaine from Comi when they disagreed over the sale and Allensworth rolled his window up with Comi’s arm still in the truck cab and sped off. Comi, thrown from the speeding truck, suffered fatal head injuries, police said.

Allensworth is being held in the Van Nuys Jail awaiting arraignment. Authorities plan to charge him with murder, reckless driving, felony evading, grand theft auto, possession of drug paraphernalia, being under the influence of drugs and parole violations, Ulick said.