(LOS ANGELES) — A man is in custody on attempted murder for allegedly shooting a driver who plowed his car through a crowd in Los Angeles last month, police announced Monday.
The arrest comes more than two weeks after what police called the “chaotic” incident outside the music venue The Vermont in East Hollywood.
Prosecutors allege the driver intentionally drove his vehicle onto a sidewalk and into the crowd gathered outside the club around 2 a.m. local time on July 19, injuring 37 people.
When the vehicle became disabled, bystanders in the crowd dragged the driver outside the car and began to physically assault him, according to police. At some point during the altercation, police said a man shot the driver once in the lower back then fled the scene on foot.
The shooting suspect — Efrain Villalobos, of Lawndale — was arrested on Sunday in the Redondo Beach area, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
He was booked for attempted murder and is being held without bail, police said Monday.
The case will be presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for filing consideration, police said.
The identity of the shooting suspect was unknown in the wake of the incident, with authorities releasing images of the alleged gunman while attempting to identify him.
The LAPD identified Villalobos as the suspect on Friday while warning that he should be considered armed and dangerous.
Amid the search for the suspect, Los Angeles Police Department Chief Jim McDonnell called the shooter’s actions “unlawful and dangerous.”
“We understand the emotions involved, but when the threat had ended and the suspect was no longer actively harming others, the use of deadly force was both unlawful and dangerous to everybody present,” McDonnell said at a press briefing last month.
The alleged driver, Fernando Ramirez, was charged with 37 counts of attempted murder and 37 counts of assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the car plowing. The 37 counts represent the 37 victims in the incident, according to Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman.
Among the victims, eight suffered “great bodily injury,” such as serious fractures and lacerations, according to Hochman.
Ramirez remains in jail on more than $37 million bail, with an arraignment scheduled for Sept. 4.
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