Residents Watched as 4 Men Beat Taxi Driver to Death, Police Say
People watched from the safety of their high-rise apartments before dawn Sunday as four men beat a taxi driver to death and dumped his body in the trunk of the cab, investigators said.
“Eyewitnesses saw him being beaten and dragged by his feet and thrown in the trunk, but no one called 911,” said Det. Virginia Lopez. “It’s disgusting.”
Apartment manager John Contreras said the victim may have been killed over a parking space.
Police arrested one person late Sunday, but Lopez declined to identify the man.
The driver, Mostapha Maarouf, 27, was working in Denver to send money back to his family in Morocco, where he planned to return in July to get married, friends said.
Police were summoned to the area when the victim’s friend called police from a nearby convenience store and said the two were being robbed and beaten by four men. Officers then searched near the apartments for the driver while neighbors watched from their windows, Lopez said.
“They didn’t tell police the body was in the trunk,” Lopez said.
Only when police went door-to-door did residents start talking, Lopez said. The man might have lived if police had found him earlier, she said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
