Artyom

Artyom

UPDATE | A man linked to a New Year’s Day pursuit and shooting in Long Beach and wrong-way chase that led to his arrest last week, had outstanding warrants in two attempted murder cases, according to a spokeswoman from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

Artyom Gasparyan, 32, has yet to be charged after he led police on a wrong-way chase on Monday, January 4, on the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway in Sunland that ended with officers shooting him when he jumped out of his car and tried to run.

He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition where he remains hospitalized and in police custody, according to D.A. spokeswoman Jane Robison who did not know when he would be formally charged and arraigned.

The suspect—also known as Artur Melkonian—was already facing two counts of attempted murder and one count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly shooting Dimitriy Li on December 13 and trying to kill Emily Jimenez with a knife last August 5.

Gasparyan was convicted of burglary in 2005 and of stalking in 2010, according to the criminal complaints.

City News Service contributed to this report. 

PREVIOUSLY: Suspect Linked to Long Beach Hostage Situation Shot by LA Police Following Chase

1/4/16 at 5:20PM | A man wanted by authorities for a series of crimes committed in several communities during the past month—including a New Year’s Day pursuit that ended with a hostage situation and a second suspect shooting himself in the head in Long Beach—was involved in a police chase and officer-involved shooting Monday afternoon.

The pursuit began at about 3:30PM Monday on the 1800 block of Foothill Boulevard and ended shortly after in a wrong-way crash on the northbound Golden State (5) Freeway at Glenoaks Boulevard in Sunland.

The suspect, Artyom Gasparyan, 32, jumped out of his car and tried to run, but was shot by officers and wounded. It was not immediately clear if he was armed or fired at officers. 

He was taken to a local hospital in critical condition and is in police custody, according to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) spokeswoman. 

The chase began when the suspect was recognized by officers at an auto-body shop in the Sunland area on Monday, according to LAPD officials. The northbound 405 will remain closed for the next several hours, and paramedics have been treating several people—including children—who were in the vehicle struck by Gasparyan before he exited his vehicle.

Gasparyan, 32, is wanted for murder, attempted murder, robbery and carjacking, LAPD officials stated. He is considered armed and dangerous.

“He’s been involved in several carjackings, several armed robberies, at least one homicide, at least four attempted homicides and is a very, very dangerous individual,” LAPD Chief Charlie Beck said of Gaspary. “I have had well over a hundred detectives and several hundred line officers assigned specifically to capture him over the past week.”

Officials believe Gasparyan has committed these crimes in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Burbank, West Hollywood and Carson.

The string of crimes began on Sunday, December 6 in the northeast Los Angeles area, with the most recent incident, a carjacking, happening on New Year’s Day in Carson, according to officials.

“Gasparyan has been identified as committing a number of these crimes with Daniel Ramirez, who was taken into custody in Long Beach, after a standoff with police in which he shot two individuals, stabbed another, and then shot himself,” LAPD officials stated in a release. 

In the New Year’s Day incident, police said Gasparyan and Ramirez allegedly stole a Volkswagon Passat and then led police on a high-speed chase through the Carson area.

An off-duty LAPD officer spotted and phoned in the Passat at 182nd and Vermont Avenue, which police said was involved in another crime earlier that morning. The vehicle was eventually spotted by officers on 223rd Street and Vermont Avenue and a pursuit began, said Sgt. Bradley Hearn of the LAPD’s Harbor Station.

During the chase, one of the suspects shot at the occupants of an orange Dodge Durango that pulled over when the driver heard the patrol car’s sirens, Hearn said. The two Durango occupants exited the vehicle uninjured.

Officers followed the Durango into Long Beach, where the driver crashed into a curb and ran into a random house on the 3300 block of Daisy Avenue.

Police said Ramirez allegedly fought with a man inside the house and stabbed him in the face with a knife from the kitchen. The man and a younger son, who suffered an injury to his hands, were able to escape.

Ramirez allegedly held the remaining two sons in the house as hostages, eventually shooting them both, according to police. Both were treated and released, according to media reports.

As police approached, Ramirez shot himself in the head at the Long Beach home. He died Saturday at an area hospital as police identified him as an accomplice to Gasparyan.

Police eventually found the Passat, but Gasparyan remained at large.

Gasparyan is also suspected of committing a double shooting in Burbank on the morning of Wednesday, December 9, according to the Burbank Police Department.

BPD officers responded to a shots fired call at 7:20AM on the 1700 block of North Catalina Street in Burbank and found the 67-year-old male resident lying in his driveway with multiple gunshot wounds. A second victim—a 33-year-old gardener working nearby—was found with a gunshot injury to his foot, officials stated.

On December 30, Gasparyan was allegedly involved in the fatal shooting of a 37-year-old man near Van Nuys Boulevard and Plummer Street, initially reported as a road rage incident.

Los Angeles officers found the victim lying near a car and took him to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead, according to media reports. Gasparyan is also linked to several other shootings in the Panorama City area, also on December 30, that left three people wounded.

City News Service contributed to this report. 

Above, left photo courtesy of the Burbank Police Department. 

Stephanie Rivera is the community engagement editor. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter at @StephRivera88.