Fistfight leads to fatal stabbing in Rose Bowl parking lot

Police are searching for a man suspected in a fatal stabbing at a Rose Bowl parking lot in Pasadena.

Pasadena police received calls from passersby about 10 p.m. Monday reporting a person down in a parking area in the 700 block of West Drive, known as Lot K, said Lt. Pete Hettema.

Witnesses told police that two men were engaged in a fistfight in the parking lot prior to the stabbing. When officers arrived, a man in his early 20s was bleeding profusely from at least one stab wound. He was pronounced dead at the scene, Hettema said.

The man was identified as 22-year-old Demetrio Tapia Jr., said Sarah Ardalani, a spokeswoman for the coroner’s office.

Hettema said the other man fled the parking lot before authorities arrived. A description of the man was not available.

It was not clear whether the two men traveled to the parking lot together or what circumstances led to the altercation.

Detectives will continue to investigate in Lot K on Tuesday. The parking lot is near a popular exercise loop where people often jog.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Pasadena Police Department at (626) 744-4620.

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Witnesses told police that two men were engaged in a fistfight in the parking lot prior to the stabbing.(Video by Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

Police blocked the road around parking Lot K, where a man was stabbed and found dead at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

hannah.fry@latimes.com

Twitter: @Hannahnfry

UPDATES:

10:15 a.m.: This article was updated with the victim’s name.

This article was originally published at 6:20 a.m.