Police Seek Car of Motel Owner Killed in Pursuit of Thief

Police are seeking the car stolen July 19 from a Pacoima motel manager who was fatally struck by a passing vehicle while hailing a cab to give chase.

Officers also want to locate the cabdriver, who they say was speaking with the victim when he was hit.

DiZhong Song, 61, who managed the Villa Las Palmas motel on San Fernando Road, was killed about 9:30 p.m. July 19 as he attempted to recover his stolen car.

Police arrested car-theft suspect Albert Cavazos, who was living at the motel, on July 21 in Sun Valley but have not located Song’s car. Det. Lindy Gligorijevic of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division described it as a 1987 two-door, maroon Buick Skylark with California license plate 2DFK922.

“It is probably still somewhere in the east San Fernando Valley,” Gligorijevic said.

She said police want to talk to the taxi driver “simply as a possible witness.”

“There was no wrongdoing on his part,” she emphasized. “He has not come to the police, but the family would certainly appreciate it.”

Song and his family emigrated from China eight years ago. Gligorijevic said he was one of a number of Chinese immigrants who operate motels and hotels in the area. “We are trying to get together a community meeting with a Mandarin-speaking officer because we have some language barriers,” she said.