The City of Rancho Palos Verdes City Talk: The Lomita Sheriff's Department ASAP Device. Maria Serrao Visits with Shawn Cliver and Captain Ronene Anda about the latest arrest of a Triple Homicide suspect caught do to the ASAP Patrol Car.
ARTICLE INCLUDED BELOW:
"Lomita Station patrol car played role in arrest of suspect"
By Ashley Ratcliff, Peninsula News
Thursday, September 9, 2010 10:20 AM PDT
RPV — When the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council took steps in 2008 to add a sophisticated software system to the Lomita Sheriff's Station's arsenal, its members foresaw the safety benefits.
With the arrest last week of a suspect in a triple homicide in West Hollywood, the technology has proven to be a valuable tool in crime fighting, officials said.
An Advanced Surveillance and Protection, or ASAP, system on a sheriff's patrol vehicle, equipped with Automatic License Plate Recognition capabilities, received an alert from a car driven by Harold Yong Park, 31, of East Hollywood, in the parking lot of the Value Inn hotel in the 29600 block of Western Avenue in RPV.
Sheriff's Capt. Ronene Anda said the device "can scan thousands of
license plates in just moments. It's times like this which absolutely proves its worthiness."
The technology uses "advanced optical character recognition" to read and record vehicle license plates, Mayor Steve Wolowicz explained during Tuesday night's council meeting. The ALPR system continuously collects license plate information through the wanted system as the patrol car drives through an area.
The city purchased the ALPR patrol vehicle for the Lomita Station two years ago and has assisted in recovering stolen vehicles. RPV is in the process of purchasing a second vehicle equipped with ASAP capabilities that would be shared with Rolling Hills and Rolling Hills Estates, which are patrolled by the Lomita Station.
"The entire community can take pride in the fact that by [providing] this new technology, the city has assisted in the capture of a wanted murder suspect and enhanced public safety for all," Wolowicz said.
Park is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 14 on charges stemming from the Aug. 26 shooting deaths of Pirooz Moussazadeh, 27, his 38-year-old brother Shahriar Moussazadeh and Bernard Khalili, 27. Their bodies were found in an apartment in the 600 block of North Kings Road, near Melrose Avenue.
The victims allegedly were selling a large quantity of marijuana to Park when the transaction went awry and the three men were killed, Sgt. Dave Rozas of the Lomita Station said.
The suspect fled the scene, and within hours, Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide detectives identified Park and the vehicle used in the crime. His car's license plate number immediately was entered into the national stolen vehicle system as an "armed and dangerous vehicle," Rozas said.
At about 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 30, Deputy Shawn Cliver was patrolling Western Avenue in the ASAP vehicle, when the system received a hit on the suspect's black Chevy Tahoe parked in the lot, Rozas said.
Cliver then contacted the Lomita Surveillance and Apprehension Team. About 45 minutes later, Park began driving his vehicle northbound on Western Avenue and was followed by a Lomita recovery unit. Officials initiated a traffic stop on Vermont Avenue, just south of the Kaiser Permanente facility.
The suspect and a female passenger were taken into custody, and a large quantity of marijuana was recovered.
Park has been charged with three counts of capital murder, three counts of robbery, and one count each of burglary and transporting marijuana for sale. He could face the death penalty.
"Since this is just the inception of the ASAP program, this has been one of the most prolific arrests made by this technology," Rozas said.
The News previously reported that RPV in 2008 had about $32,000 of unencumbered California Law Enforcement Equipment Program funds but paid $2,500 in out-of-pocket expenses to outfit one car with the new technology. Back then, 24 patrol cars throughout the county had the ALPR system.
"It's great news to see the role this [system] played. ... We recognized the technology really did help our community be a safer community by giving the sheriffs a fantastic tool that they can use to keep our streets safer for our residents," Councilman Doug Stern said on Tuesday.
— City News Service contributed to this article
