HOLLYWOOD : Carjacker May Be Charged With Slaying of Passenger
A suspected drug dealer faced probable murder charges Wednesday for allegedly stealing a car at gunpoint, killing a passenger in the front seat and leading police on a chase through Hollywood.
Costello Blackwell, a transient who used to live in St. Louis, was being held on suspicion of murder, said Detective Wendi Berndt of the Los Angeles Police Department.
She said Blackwell was acquainted with Vern Poper, 29, of Los Angeles, who was shot to death about 3:45 p.m. Monday.
Poper’s body was still belted in the front seat of a black Acura Legend when police searched the car. He and the man Blackwell had forced out of the car at gunpoint apparently had stopped the suspect to buy drugs from him, said Detective John Miller, adding that police found three grams of cocaine in the car.
The man forced out of the car immediately flagged down a police officer, and the fleeing suspect was soon spotted.
The chase that followed ended at DeLongpre Avenue and Saint Andrews Place, where Blackwell got out and ran, police said. He was arrested moments later.
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