Woman Arrested in Killing of Pedestrian in Van Nuys

Police arrested a 35-year-old woman on suspicion of repeatedly driving over a pedestrian and killing him early Friday in Van Nuys and said they are investigating it as a hate crime.

Authorities said Marie E. West of Redondo Beach struck Jesus Plascencia, 66, as he walked to his car at 4 a.m. from Western Bagel bakery on Sepulveda Boulevard.

Afterward, “she was heard making comments about her hatred of people of Hispanic origin,” said Det. Al Aldaz of the Los Angeles Police Department. The district attorney’s office has assigned a hate crimes prosecutor to the case.

The car ran over Plascencia at least twice and dragged him into the middle of the street, Aldaz said. The driver then drove back into the lot, parked and walked into the bagel shop, witnesses told police.

“Somebody called the police,” said Chuck Jones, Western Bagel’s director of human resources. “By the time they came, she had her hood up for some reason. When she saw them she got in her car and locked the doors. They had to forcibly remove her.”

West’s husband, Al Bowman, said she suffers from a manic-depressive disorder and is sometimes confrontational, but he has never known her to be violent.

“She’s susceptible to nervous breakdowns,” Bowman said. “She is not a racist. I know because I am half Mexican. She doesn’t hate Mexicans. This is just another manifestation of her illness.”

Aldaz said several people saw the car strike Plascencia. At least six Western Bagel employees were questioned Friday. The woman’s Volvo had front and rear damage.

West refused to answer detectives’ questions, Aldaz said, and requested her attorney.

Bowman said he last saw his wife, who takes lithium and other medications to control her illness, Thursday night.

On most mornings, Plascencia picked up bagels at the bakery for Weiler’s Deli and Restaurant in Northridge, where he was a busboy.

“He was a very sweet, shy man,” said Irene Khoudian, 16, who works at the restaurant.

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Times staff writer Sue Fox contributed to this story.