Four men were arrested in the shooting death of a 14-year-old in Long Beach, police announced Friday, Jan. 8.
The suspects, who were taken into custody Thursday and Friday, were accused of fatally shooting Arthur Touch during an argument on Dec. 16 in the 1400 block of St. Louis Avenue, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
On Thursday, police arrested 19-year-old Jose Martinez and 18-year-old Jacob Valentin, both at their separate Long Beach residences.
The two other suspects, brothers Junior Parra, 25, and Ricardo Parra, 23, were taken into custody about 7 a.m. Friday at the U.S.-Mexico border after leading the California Highway Patrol on a pursuit from Mission Valley to San Ysidro.
A CHP officer spotted the pair in a blue Acura Integra that was the subject of a be-on-the-lookout alert while heading south on Interstate 805 over Interstate 8, CHP said.
The driver of the car refused to yield and fled through southern San Diego, National City and Chula Vista before pulling over on Camino De La Plaza at Interstate 5, just north of the border, CHP public affairs Officer Salvador Castro said.
The brothers then jumped out of the vehicle and ran off. Personnel with the CHP and U.S. Customs and Border Protection chased after them, and took them into custody a short distance away, Castro said.
Police said the four suspects had been involved in an argument with Touch when “the dispute escalated to a physical assault which led to the victim being shot prior to the suspects fleeing the scene.”
Police found Touch lying in the road with gunshots to his upper body. He died at the scene.
“Any loss of life due to violence is unacceptable, but the murder of a 14-year-old should be an outrage to our entire community,” Long Beach Police Department Chief Robert Luna said.
Detectives who executed a search warrant at suspects’ homes found four handguns, seven rifles and ammunition, though none of the firearms are believed to be ones involved in the shooting, Long Beach police said.
All four men were arrested on suspicion of murder. They are being held at the Long Beach City jail on $2 million bail, police said.
