A 16-year-old boy was arrested Friday on suspicion of running over and killing a man who was trying to stop shoplifters at his brother’s store in South El Monte early this month, authorities said.
Kourosh “Steve” Yaghoubi, 60, was killed after he confronted shoplifters at his brother’s family-owned Giant Discount Store on April 9. The teen allegedly ran over Yaghoubi as the youth and others fled, police said. It’s unclear whether the teen was inside the store at any point during the incident.
Yaghoubi was unconscious and suffering from blunt force trauma when authorities arrived, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department news release.
Detectives found the vehicle used as the getaway car, which led them to the 16-year-old suspect, authorities wrote in a news release. Because the suspect is a minor, authorities will not release his name.
Yaghoubi’s brother and the owner of the store, Jim Yaghoubi, told ABC-7 that he and his brother followed the shoplifters into the parking lot after they left without paying for a $10 box of masks. A physical altercation ensued. Yaghoubi told the news outlet that one of the shoplifters punched his brother in the head before the driver ran him over.
“I don’t know why this happened. Honestly, I was there at the last minute of his life. I saw his face. I saw his eyes,” Yaghoubi told ABC-7.
Authorities are still trying to identify several other individuals who were in the vehicle at the time of the theft.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. Anonymous tips can be left at (800) 222-8477 or at the Crime Stoppers website.
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