Manhunt for suspect in fatal Westmont stabbing ends in San Francisco
The manhunt for a 54-year-old wanted in a fatal motel room stabbing in the Westmont neighborhood in the L.A. area came to an end over the weekend when Oscar Bridges was arrested in San Francisco.
According to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Bridges stabbed 21-year-old Robert Brewer of Texas to death on Jan. 23 around 10:40 a.m. in a motel room at an establishment in the 10400 block of South Vermont Avenue.
About a week after Brewer was killed, authorities held a news conference asking for the public’s help in finding Bridges. He was suspected in the stabbing in part because he is known to frequent motels, said Lt. Holly Francisco of the sheriff’s department.
HOMICIDE REPORT: A story for every victim
Bridges reportedly checked into the motel on South Vermont Avenue on Jan. 21 and had planned to stay a couple weeks, though he was gone on the morning Brewer was discovered killed.
Authorities said surveillance video showed the two together and that Bridges has an extensive criminal history that includes assault with a deadly weapon, his status as a registered sex offender and evading arrest, among others.
The manhunt for Bridges at one point even extended into the Hollywood Hills area as detectives along with 50 other personnel and officers from local agencies conducted a large-scale search above the Greek Theatre and Runyon Canyon.
Later, when sheriff’s department homicide detectives received information that Bridges had ties to the San Francisco area, they contacted authorities there and requested they locate areas he may have frequented.
At 12:45 p.m. Saturday, Bridges was arrested. Authorities said he will be taken to Norwalk, where he will be booked for murder.
Westmont has been the site of more than 100 other homicides in the last seven years, making it one of the deadliest neighborhoods in L.A. County, according to a Times analysis of homicide data since 2007.
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