Body May Be Tied to Assault on Officer

A man’s body found wrapped in plastic and duct tape in a barrel at a Van Nuys public storage unit could be connected to an assault on an off-duty Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy in January, police said Thursday.

The county coroner will conduct an autopsy and use fingerprints to identify the man, Craig Harvey, the coroner’s chief of operations, said.

But law enforcement sources believe the body is that of a man who has been missing for up to nine days and who may have been connected to an attack in Chatsworth.

In that incident, off-duty Sheriff’s Deputy Alex Dixon confronted two men outside his apartment near Lassen Street and Topanga Canyon Boulevard, and one of the men fired at least three rounds from a semiautomatic handgun, police said.

On June 30, police arrested David Michael Steinberg, 36, in the San Fernando Valley in connection with the assault. A week earlier an arrest warrant was issued for Christopher Walsh, 37, who is suspected of helping Steinberg elude authorities. Walsh has not been found.

Law enforcement sources said the dead man is believed to be an associate of Steinberg. On Wednesday night when the body was found, Los Angeles Police Det. Mike Oppelt described the victim as a “witness/suspect” in the assault case.

According to Department of Corrections records, Steinberg was released from state prison on Feb. 7, 2002, after serving half of a 16-month sentence for auto theft and possession of a deadly weapon. Because of a parole violation, he returned to prison on April 17 and was released May 1.