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Pico Rivera Residents Recount Stabbed AAA Driver's Dying Moments

PICO RIVERA (CBSLA.com) — Authorities searched for a suspect Wednesday who fatally stabbed a 35-year-old AAA tow truck driver in Pico Rivera.

Raymond Zabala III worked at Petra Towing, which is regularly contracted out to help American Automobile Association members. He was doing just that around 4:35 p.m. Tuesday, helping a woman with her vehicle in front of her home, in the 8400 block of Buhman Avenue, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

Deputies say while Zabala and the woman were talking, her 39-year-old son, Tobias Ruben Cabrera, appeared and stabbed the AAA worker in the neck. He fled the scene on a bicycle and continues to be at large. Authorities say he's a transient.

AAA Mechanic Stabbed In Pico Rivera
(credit: CBS)

Meanwhile, Zabala ran to a doorstep several houses away. The occupants say they heard banging on the door and Zabala yelling "Help me!"

They came outside and found him bleeding profusely. They placed shirts on his neck and applied pressure in an effort to stop the bleeding but say "it was too late."

They told CBS2/KCAL9's Crystal Cruz they were there, talking to Zabala, in his final moments.

stabbing victim
(credit: Zabala Family)

By the time paramedics arrived Zabala had died.

Loved ones say, coincidentally, he died across the street from his childhood home.

"It's an extremely tough time right now. Everybody's stunned. The entire family is trying to pull together right now for his wife and kids," the victim's cousin Albert Macias said during a vigil Wednesday night. It was held at the spot where Zabala died.

Ron Lopez, manager of Petra Towing, says Zabala worked there for three to four years, and leaves behind a wife and a 2-month-old boy.

zabala
(credit: Zabala Family)

Law enforcement is searching for Cabrera. He's described as 5-foot-7 and weighing 160 pounds. He's a transient who frequents the Pico Rivera area.

Cabrera is believed to still have the knife used in the attack, and should be considered armed and dangerous, according to deputies.

Investigators are expected to return to the neighborhood today to see if security cameras in the area were rolling at the time of the crime.

Anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact LASD detectives at (323) 890-5500.

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