Man Killed After Police Impound Car

A man was stabbed to death early Monday, shortly after his car was impounded by police and he refused an officer’s offer to arrange for a taxi to take him and a female companion home, police said.

Andres Munoz Castillo, 31, died from a single stab wound to his upper body. His companion, whose name was withheld, was not injured in the attack.

The two were on their way home after an evening at the El Zorro nightclub on Lankershim Boulevard about 1:30 a.m. when Los Angeles Police Department officers stopped the couple’s car at Radford Avenue and Victory Boulevard, citing an expired registration.

Officers determined that Castillo was an unlicensed driver and impounded his car, police said. The officers offered to call a cab, but the couple declined, police said.

The two walked a short distance to pay phones at Ben Avenue and Victory Boulevard, where they were approached by a man who asked for a quarter. After giving him the money, the couple walked on to another pay phone because Castillo’s companion was having trouble hearing her sister, whom she was calling for a ride, said Det. Mike Coffey.

Minutes later, the same man drove up to them in what was described as a mid-sized American car, possibly light blue with three or four light primer spots on the passenger side, police said. He asked the couple to drive him home because he was intoxicated.

Police said Castillo leaned into the car’s passenger window to explain that he could not drive the man home, and the man stabbed him once. Castillo died at 2:45 a.m. at Pacifica Hospital.

Coffey said Castillo worked at a landfill in the San Fernando Valley and is believed to have a wife and two children in Mexico.

Authorities described the suspect as a Latino male, 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet, 5 inches tall, medium weight, with a mustache and short hair.

LAPD spokesman Cmdr. Dave Kalish said state law requires officers to impound the vehicle of any unlicensed driver whom they stop.

Kalish said there is no LAPD policy dictating what officers must do when people are left stranded after their car is impounded.

“Obviously, if there are extenuating circumstances, we’ll take appropriate action to ensure the safety of those involved,” Kalish said.

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.