Posted on 03/26/2026 7:26:41 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A man released from police custody in Azusa was found dead four days later in an unoccupied patrol vehicle parked at the station, officials announced.
The gruesome March 26 discovery was made by a civilian employee at 4:51 a.m. in a vehicle that police said was not in active use by department personnel and was pending mandatory maintenance.
Medical personnel with the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to the station, located at 725 N. Alameda Avenue, and declared man dead at 4:59 a.m., according to an Azusa Police Department news release.
Azusa Police Captain Robert Landeros told the Orange County Register that the adult male, who has not been identified, was arrested March 20 on suspicion of driving while under the influence and child endangerment. He was held over the weekend and released on March 23.
On his release, the man apparently walked out of the facility got into the backseat of the unlocked vehicle, which was parked in front of the station, and later died, police said.
No information has been provided on whether surveillance cameras recorded the man leaving the building and getting in the vehicle.
(Excerpt) Read more at ktla.com ...
Hmm....I wonder if whatever he was under the influence of was a factor here.
Yeah but is this like Schrodinger’s cop car?
Urgent Notification for all on duty Patrol Officers;
“Always. always lock your Patrol Car at the end of your shift. No Exceptions!!”
If you are too dumb to realize that you can’t open the back seat doors in a black and white patrol car, then you are probably too dumb to live anyway.
Sad and tragic and a horrible way to go if he died from dehydration, but this guy was either really stupid or high as a kite. Either way, too stupid to live.
The car must have been moved at some point after he entered it. Whoever moved it didn’t check the back seat.
Maybe… after all, who routinely checks the backseat of a car when you get in it to move.
I was a school bus driver for three years.
Rule was to get up, walk back to the back door, looking at and under each seat. I always checked, hundreds and hundreds of times,
Once found a 7 year old sitting all alone in the last seat when I got the bus back to the yard. He’d fallen asleep.
Most likely.
He was in custody for a few days. Would he still be under the influence?
Good question.
Another car jacking, gone bad.
Maybe I’m wrong because I’m assuming the car wouldn’t sit for 3 or 4 days in front of the station and I don’t know the lay of the land in Azusa or how busy this place was.
Probably not but some drugs might have long lingering effects. Maybe he was confused when he was released and got in the car expecting a ride home.
2026 Los Angeles Hide and Seek Champion.
2026 Los Angeles Hide and Seek Champion.
It wasn’t unoccupied if he was in it.
“Yeah but is this like Schrodinger’s cop car?”
Yes. It is both empty and full AND the occupant is dead but was alive in the car. Unless he died and someone put him in the vehicle after.
>found dead four days later in an unoccupied patrol vehicle
or KTLA staff can’t write.
Arrested for driving under the influence, spent three days in jail, the released got in the car and died. I wonder if he was going through delerim tremains, needed medical help but too disoriented to respond and died. DT can be fatal especially without treatment.
They won’t be able to use that car again. Death leaves a scent that doesn’t take it’s leave.
That would suggest that the back doors of police cars should be locked so they can’t be opened from the outside either without police action.
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