Man Stabbed to Death After Police Seize His 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 his girlfriend home, police said.

Andres Munoz Castillo, 31, of North Hollywood, died from a single stab wound to his upper body. His girlfriend, 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 LAPD officers stopped the couple’s car at Radford Avenue and Victory Boulevard, citing an expired registration.

Officers determined 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 girlfriend was having trouble hearing her sister, whom she was calling for a ride, Det. Mike Coffey said.

Minutes later, the same man drove up to them in what was described as a midsized American car, possibly light blue with three or four light primer spots on the passenger side, police said. He reportedly 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 in the upper body with a sharp instrument. 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 assailant as a Latino, 25 to 30 years old, 5 feet 5 inches tall, medium weight, with a mustache and short hair.

LAPD Cmdr. Dave Kalish, spokesman for Chief Bernard C. Parks, said state law requires officers to impound the vehicle of any unlicensed driver they pull over.

Kalish said there is no LAPD policy dictating what officers must do when someone is left stranded after a car is impounded.

“Obviously, if there are extenuating circumstances, we’ll take appropriate action to ensure the safety of those involved,” Kalish said. Such actions might include a ride home, if it is nearby, or a ride to the police station to use the phone, he said.

In this case, Kalish said, the couple involved did not express concerns about their safety, and the officers involved did not perceive a threat.

“We offered them a taxi,” Kalish said. “Once that offer has been rejected, there’s nothing else we can do.”

Times staff writer Andrew Blankstein contributed to this story.