Tow Truck Driver Arrested in Fatal Beating of Colleague

A tow truck driver has been arrested in the fatal bludgeoning of another driver who he believed was stealing his customer, police said Tuesday.

Thaddeus K. Bonner, 45, of Pacoima, was booked on suspicion of murder Sunday night in the death of David Bass, 37, said LAPD Det. Frank Bishop of the Foothill Division.

Bass died at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills about 12:30 p.m. Sunday shortly after an argument with the other driver turned violent in the 11400 block of Borden Avenue, Bishop said.

The suspect knocked Bass down to the ground after he hit him on the head and neck with a blunt object, the detective said.

Bonner’s tow truck was not part of any company licensed by the Police Commission, he said. It was not immediately known if the victim’s truck was licensed.

“We think that [Bonner] was occasionally performing tow duties with someone else’s truck,” Bishop said.

Bass had been hired to tow a disabled car to a salvage yard when Bonner spotted him. “Witnesses indicate that [the argument] was over a rivalry,” Bishop said, adding that the men had known each other before the dispute.

Shortly before the fight with Bass, Bonner had been involved in an argument with a friend who lived nearby, Bishop said. Bonner is being held at the San Fernando jail.

Police asked that witnesses to the deadly fight call (818) 834-3115 or (818) 756-8861.