Post by redstone14 on Nov 3, 2011 1:19:41 GMT -5
Suspect, Victim ID'd in Walmart Baseball Bat Beating
Officials say suspect was a homeless man.
KTLA News
10:47 PM PDT, November 2, 2011
LAKEWOOD, Calif. (KTLA) -- Walmart shoppers and employees watched in horror as a 74-year-old man was beaten to death with a baseball bat inside the store Tuesday in what police say was an unprovoked attack.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were called to the store, on Carson Street, just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"I was standing in the line getting a money order and I heard someone yell, 'Call 911!'," said shopper John Rouse.
Rouse turned toward the commotion and saw security guards chasing a man outside the store.
That man, police say, walked into the Walmart's sporting goods area, took an aluminum baseball bat off of a display and beat Long Beach resident Dave Oakleaf, 74, with it until he was dead.
And then as quickly as the beating began, it was over.
"He just kind of walked out the door and gave up," Rouse said. "There was no physical confrontation. He just sat down and gave up."
Police arrested Richard Lawrence Kalfin, 46, a local homeless man, outside the store.
Police say the entire beating was caught on Walmart surveillance cameras.
Kalfin was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He is scheduled to appear Thursday in Bellflower Superior Court.
Officials say the attack on the elderly man was an unprovoked "random act of violence." There were no words exchanged and the elderly man likely didn't see his attacker coming until it was much too late.
Some witnesses inside the store said they saw Kalfin ask Oakleaf for money as the elder man walked inside the store. Oakleaf allegedly refused.
The store was closed for several hours while police investigated.
Oakleaf's friends and neighbors set up a makeshift memorial at his home Wednesday, leaving flowers and candles near the van he parked in his driveway.
"I was shocked, heartbroken," Sebrina Maae said of the moment she heard of her neighbor Oakleaf's death.
Oakleaf was a good neighbor who loved his dogs and would often play with neighborhood children in his yard, other neighbors said.
www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-lakewood-walmart-beating,0,1683724.story
Officials say suspect was a homeless man.
KTLA News
10:47 PM PDT, November 2, 2011
LAKEWOOD, Calif. (KTLA) -- Walmart shoppers and employees watched in horror as a 74-year-old man was beaten to death with a baseball bat inside the store Tuesday in what police say was an unprovoked attack.
Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were called to the store, on Carson Street, just before 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"I was standing in the line getting a money order and I heard someone yell, 'Call 911!'," said shopper John Rouse.
Rouse turned toward the commotion and saw security guards chasing a man outside the store.
That man, police say, walked into the Walmart's sporting goods area, took an aluminum baseball bat off of a display and beat Long Beach resident Dave Oakleaf, 74, with it until he was dead.
And then as quickly as the beating began, it was over.
"He just kind of walked out the door and gave up," Rouse said. "There was no physical confrontation. He just sat down and gave up."
Police arrested Richard Lawrence Kalfin, 46, a local homeless man, outside the store.
Police say the entire beating was caught on Walmart surveillance cameras.
Kalfin was arrested on suspicion of murder and is being held in lieu of $1 million bail. He is scheduled to appear Thursday in Bellflower Superior Court.
Officials say the attack on the elderly man was an unprovoked "random act of violence." There were no words exchanged and the elderly man likely didn't see his attacker coming until it was much too late.
Some witnesses inside the store said they saw Kalfin ask Oakleaf for money as the elder man walked inside the store. Oakleaf allegedly refused.
The store was closed for several hours while police investigated.
Oakleaf's friends and neighbors set up a makeshift memorial at his home Wednesday, leaving flowers and candles near the van he parked in his driveway.
"I was shocked, heartbroken," Sebrina Maae said of the moment she heard of her neighbor Oakleaf's death.
Oakleaf was a good neighbor who loved his dogs and would often play with neighborhood children in his yard, other neighbors said.
www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-lakewood-walmart-beating,0,1683724.story