Man Shot to Death While Washing Car

A San Fernando couple and a teenage boy from Cudahy have been arrested in the killing and robbery of a man who was washing his car late Saturday night.

Antonio Ramirez Cruz, 48, of Panorama City was at a self-service carwash at 14598 Van Nuys Blvd. about 11:40 p.m. Saturday when a man and a teen jumped out of a GMC Suburban and pointed guns at him, police said.

Los Angeles Police Sgt. Loren Farell said Armando Gomez, 23, and a 17-year-old whose name was withheld robbed Cruz, shot him several times and fled the scene.

Cruz was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

The victim, the father of three, was a press operator who worked at different print operations in the city, said his stepson, Alex Hurtado, 30, of Los Angeles. He sold press equipment on the side, and occasionally delivered machines to Mexico. He had planned to make one of those deliveries Sunday, Hurtado said.

Cruz’s wife had cautioned him against going to the carwash so late. “He said he wanted to go that night instead of waiting until the next day,” Hurtado said.

Family members said Cruz left about 10:30 p.m. Saturday in his 1996 Toyota Corolla for the carwash, about two miles away. They were notified of his death by police Sunday morning.

“He was a man who liked to do stuff with his family,” Hurtado said. “He was a regular guy in a regular, everyday car. Why did they have to rob him, a person with no money? Those people have no brain. They have no heart.”

Cruz is survived by his wife, a 13-year-old son, 26-year-old daughter and Hurtado.

During the shooting, an errant bullet struck Gomez’s girlfriend, Claudia Venegas, 22, in the leg, Farell said.

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Later that night, police found Gomez, Venegas and the teen in a Suburban matching the one described by a witness. Inside, they found an assault rifle and “unspecified evidence connecting them with the scene,” Farell said.

All three were booked on suspicion of murder with no bail.

Venegas was taken to an undisclosed hospital and placed under police guard. Gomez, who complained of an unrelated illness, was booked at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center’s Jail Ward and the teen was taken to Sylmar Juvenile Hall.