Washington murder suspect arrested in L.A. after car was found, kicking off manhunt
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A murder suspect wanted in connection with a fatal stabbing in Washington state was found hiding out in Los Angeles and was arrested Tuesday, authorities said.
On Monday, L.A. County sheriff’s deputies found a black BMW linked to Alexander Lee Rogers, 51, in Calabasas. Rogers was identified last week as the suspect in an Aug. 5 stabbing that killed one and critically wounded another in Washington’s Cowlitz County. He had eluded authorities for a week.
His vehicle was discovered unoccupied in the 23000 block of Calabasas Road, and deputies warned that Rogers could still be in the area. Police in Longview, Wash., said that there was also video evidence of Rogers in the Greater Los Angeles area.
At 12:45 p.m. Tuesday, Los Angeles Police Department officers responded to a reported sighting of Rogers near Lafayette Park in Westlake, according to Police Chief Jim McDonnell. Officers identified Rogers on scene and took him into custody without incident, McDonnell said. He is being held at the LAPD’s Olympic station.
“I want to thank the Washington state authorities and the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department for their efforts in taking this very dangerous suspect into custody,” McDonnell said.
Longview police said Rogers was wanted in the stabbings of Dawn Peters, 64, and Andrew Peters, 73. Dawn Peters died from her wounds, and Andrew Peters was critically injured but survived, according to Longview Police Capt. Branden McNew. Rogers is wanted on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Officials had requested the public’s help locating Rogers but warned residents that he was considered armed and dangerous.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department shared images of the suspect and asked that anyone who spotted him “not approach or attempt to contact” him but call 911.
Rogers was released 10 months ago after serving a long prison sentence in Washington for first-degree assault in a machete attack that injured two people in the early 2000s, McNew told KTLA-TV.
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