A 28-year-old man who allegedly shot a driver accused of plowing through a crowd of people in East Hollywood was arrested in Redondo Beach, authorities said Monday.
Redondo Beach police officers arrested Efrain Villalobos of Lawndale around 1:15 p.m. Sunday, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He was taken into custody after investigators determined he could be living in the Redondo Beach area.
On Sunday evening LA police detectives took custody of the suspect, who was being held without bail on suspicion of attempted murder, according to the LAPD and jail records.
Villalobos allegedly shot 29-year-old Fernando Ramirez in the lower back during a melee outside an East Hollywood nightclub July 19, according to the LAPD. Officers responded around 2 a.m. to the 1000 block of North Vermont Avenue, where a mass casualty incident had been reported involving at least 37 victims.
Ramirez had been kicked out of the nightclub for being disruptive before he drove into the crowd, LAPD Capt. Ben Fernandes told the Los Angeles Times.
Ramirez has a criminal history in Orange County starting in 2014. He was charged July 22 with 37 counts each of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon and possibly could receive a life prison sentence.
Villalobos allegedly pulled Ramirez from the vehicle and shot him in the back as people in the crowd swarmed over the driver following the crash.
Villalobos faces felony charges in connection with the shooting of Ramirez, who is scheduled for arraignment Sept. 4 in downtown LA. Prior court dates were postponed for a little more than a week while Ramirez recovered from the gunshot wound.
Currently he’s held at Men’s Central Jail on roughly $37 million bail.
