Wanted Murder Suspect Captured

Los Angeles: A wanted murder suspect was captured on July 28, 2006, after the man tried to run away from a fugitive task force assembled to capture him.

Detectives assigned to LAPD’s Detective Support Division formed a task force to go after Juan Vigil, 27, who was wanted in the road-rage death of a grandmother this year in South Los Angeles.

Leads led detectives to the 200 block of Avenue 55 in Highland Park around 11 AM. Vigil saw the detectives in the area and ran away. Detectives called in a canine officer to conduct a search.

Police Officer Gina Holstrom, 41, and her partner, Oscar, found Vigil hiding under a mattress. Vigil was bitten on the shoulder during the course of his capture. At the time of the bite, the dog was out of the officers’ immediate eyesight. The police dogs will not bite unless they feel threatened.

Vigil was hospitalized overnight at the jail ward of County USC Medical Center. He was booked on the murder charge.

Officer Holstrom has been a police officer for over 16 years.

Force Investigation Division will investigate the incident as a categorical use of force