Suspect Arrested In Violent Murder Of Cab Driver In Chinatown

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – A suspect was arrested in the brutal stabbing death of a 68-year-old cab driver in downtown Los Angeles' Chinatown neighborhood Friday night.

Daniel Victor Torres, 32, was taken into custody Sunday by Los Angeles police.

At around 6 p.m. Friday, a driver for the Yellow Cab Co., identified as Oganes Papazyan of Burbank, was murdered by a male passenger he had just picked up.

According to police, Papazyan picked up the suspect at Union Station and drove him to the parking lot of a Burger King in the 700 block of West Cesar Chavez Avenue, where the suspect stabbed him.

Witness Michael Bullard told CBS2 he saw the driver and passenger exit the car and then saw the passenger stab the driver at least three times in the neck.

"It's the most brutal act of violence I've ever seen my whole life," Bullard said.

The suspect initially tried to speed away in the cab, but when he couldn't locate the vehicle's key fob, he ran away, police said, leaving Papazyan to die.

On Sunday, patrol officers came upon a man who resembled the suspect's description in the 500 block of North Main Street, about a half-mile from where that the murder had occurred.

Torres was arrested and, after being interviewed by detectives, was booked on murder charges, police said. He is being held on $2 million bail and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday.

There is still no word on a motive in the killing.