Nearly a year after a vehicle drove into the North Long Beach apartment of an unsuspecting family, killing a father and his toddler, police believe the suspect responsible for the crime has still not been caught.
Police said that on the night of March 1, 2022, 24-year-old Octavio Montano was driving northbound on Rose Avenue, near East Artesia Boulevard, in a 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck when his vehicle veered off the street and crashed into the Palacios family’s ground-floor apartment.
Montano escaped the scene of the crash on foot, according to the Long Beach Police Department.
42-year-old Jose Palacios Gonzalez died at the scene and 3-year-old Samantha Palacios was taken to a hospital, where she later died.
“The deaths of Jose and Samantha have had a devastating, lasting impact on our community,” former Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement.
In an effort to help locate Montano, the County of Los Angeles and City of Long Beach offered a combined $25,000 reward for information that leads to his arrest and conviction.
Montano was described as being 5-feet 8-inches tall and weighing 160 pounds, with black hair, brown eyes and unspecified tattoos on his right forearm.
In the aftermath of the crash, neighbors told KTLA that they believed Montano had been drinking at the nearby Bottoms Up Tavern. Residents near the tavern said that the bar patrons repeatedly caused disturbances in the neighborhood.
After these concerns, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Department opened an investigation into Bottoms Up Tavern. The investigation found that the tavern was running a “disorderly premises” and that the sale of numerous illegal drugs had occurred at the establishment.
The Alcoholic Beverage Control Department suspended the tavern’s liquor license. The business then moved its location from Long Beach to Bellflower.
Anyone with information on Montano’s whereabouts is asked to call LBPD Detective Kevin Johansen at 562-570-7355. Anonymous tips can be called in to Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477 or submitted online at lacrimestoppers.org.
