Man Arrested After Skid Row Scuffle With TV Photographer, LAPD Officer
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Three days after police fatally shot a man on Skid Row, another man was arrested in the same area Wednesday after a scuffle with a Fox 11 photographer and an attempt to grab the weapon of one officer who responded to the scene.
Police responded about noon to the area of Sixth and San Pedro streets, where the man got into a scuffle with the television photographer, according to Los Angeles police Officer Jane Kim.
A group of officers struggled with the man, who tried to grab a holstered weapon from one of the officers, Kim said. Three officers, Kim said, suffered minor injuries in the confrontation, and the man, whose name was not released, was arrested.
On Sunday, officers got into an altercation on Skid Row that ended with the fatal shooting of a homeless man. The man, who was known as "Africa" to acquaintances on Skid Row, was initially identified as a French national named Charley Saturmin Robinet, but French officials said Tuesday that Robinet is alive in France.
The man killed in Sunday's altercation, who officials said stole Robinet's identity and used it to acquire a French passport to come to the United States in the late 1990s, was identified Wednesday as a Cameroon national and convicted robber who was supposed to have been deported to the African country. He was released from custody when Cameroon officials failed to cooperate with the deportation effort.
A candlelight vigil was held for the man Wednesday night at a church in Downtown L.A.
"We don't know his real name, but God knows his real name," a mourner said during the vigil.
LAPD Officer Deon Joseph, who's worked Skid Row for 17 years, attended the vigil and said he was touched by the community's showing of support for police.
"We don't wake up in the morning and say, 'How many homeless people are we going to kill today?' We talk about how many lives we can save. And, sometimes, bad things happen, but no officer wants to take a life," Joseph said.
Also at the vigil was Joelle Schlepp, a homeless counselor in the area, "I'm thankful that this incident has brought light to Skid Row, and I'm hoping that more people are talking about it now, and how to help the people here."
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