Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives have confirmed that the man who was seen on fire inside his car around midnight Wednesday in a Green Valley Circle parking lot, has died.
Described only as a black male, Sheriff’s homicide detectives say the man was transported from 6666 Green Valley Circle shortly after midnight July 5 to the Grossman Burn Center at West Hills Hospital & Medical Center.
The man succumbed to his injuries at 1:14 p.m. on July 5.
Authorities were called to the parking lot of the Share Self Help & Recovery Exchange facility at 6666 Green Valley Circle shortly after midnight Wednesday. An eyewitness told Patch the car appeared to be a Honda and Culver City Police, Fire, and California Highway Patrol officers were on the scene attempting to saw the man out of the car. Los Angeles County Sheriff's officials said the man was already outside of the car and lying on the ground when they arrived at the scene.
Share Self Help’s Program Director Jason Robison told Patch Thursday morning a homeless man living in his car in the area called the Fire Department after he saw a car on fire driving into the parking lot of the facility.
Robison said he heard about the incident at approximately 1 a.m. and was told by witnesses that authorities managed to extricate the man from the car.
“One of the Sheriff’s department deputies told me this morning he had burns to 80 percent of his body and wasn’t expected to survive,” Robison said. He added, "The investigators took a lot of pictures before leaving and there’s now just a charred patch of debris with glass and metal in the lot. It was the only car in the parking lot."
LA County Sheriff's department arson investigators were on the scene early Thursday morning and shortly thereafter handed over the case to the Sheriff's department's homicide bureau.
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500. If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), or texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
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