[IceBreaker]

Salesman Murdered at Cerritos Car Dealership
When denied a test drive, customer stabs salesman repeatedly.

By Wendy Thermos, Times Staff Writer


A well-dressed man stabbed a car salesman to death with a butcher knife after a Cerritos dealership turned down his request to test-drive a Corvette, officials said today.

Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies arrested Melchor Macaso, 35, of Norwalk on suspicion of murder after the victim's co-workers restrained the suspect at the scene, according to Capt. Daryl Evans. Macaso was being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

Such attacks are rare, "but they do happen," said Charlie Gill, executive director of the Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Assn., representing 303 dealerships and 4,500 salespersons.

"It can be hazardous going out on a test drive, even if you do get a driver's license," Gill said.

Frank D'Agostino, general manager of S&J Chevrolet in the 18600 block of Studebaker Road, said Macaso arrived about 7 p.m. Tuesday and asked to drive a demonstrator car.

"The policy is you can't test-drive a car without a driver's license, and he couldn't produce one," D'Agostino said.

The man became violent in the dealership office when the salesman, whose identity was being withheld until relatives could be notified, turned down the request, Evans said.

Investigators said the suspect withdrew a knife from his clothing and immediately stabbed the salesman several times in the chest before attempting to flee.

The salesman died at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, coroner's Lt. Emil Moldovan said.

Employees who witnessed the attack grabbed Macaso and a brief struggle ensued. "They restrained him and sat on him" until deputies arrived, D'Agostino said.

D'Agostino believes the suspect came to the car lot planning to steal a vehicle. "Obviously he was prepared to do this because he had a large butcher knife with him," he said.

Gill said it was the first such incident he has heard of in Los Angeles County, where 371,000 new cars were sold last year.

"But I've heard of it happening in other places. Someone going out on a test drive and the salesperson being murdered and the car stolen," Gill said.

"Dealerships are open to the public and anyone can come in, and you are vulnerable," Gill said. "It's a shame."

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...track=morenews

[turtle777]

Uhm, not, wait, wrong pic...

There you go:



-t

[nredman]

people are crazy

[Eriamjh]

...whose identity was being withheld...

Are they withholding it or is it because he didn't have a driver's license and they don't know his identity?

[Sealobo]

will this affect my insurance premium?

[sminch]

i read the title as "man denied (that his) test drive kills car salesman". that would have been an interesting story, for sure...

sminch

[Scandalous Ion Cannon]

Originally Posted by turtle777

-t

Beat me to it.

[rickey939]

Test drives kill people.

[moodymonster]

I woudln't say only in America - everyone has their share of complete nutters - although in the UK most of the people who do things like this are known to be crazy but are left to their own devices anyway.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by moodymonster

I woudln't say only in America - everyone has their share of complete nutters - although in the UK most of the people who do things like this are known to be crazy but are left to their own devices anyway.

Haha, you American's are always so proud to have the biggest, bestest and mostest. There ya go, you also got the biggest, bestest and mostest of nutters.

-t

[nredman]

Originally Posted by turtle777

Haha, you American's are always so proud to have the biggest, bestest and mostest. There ya go, you also got the biggest, bestest and mostest of nutters.

-t

i'm an american and i am not proud of those things.

[Rolling Bones]

The moral of the story is......

???

[PacHead]

Who gave this thread 5 stars ?

The rating system is dumb. Can I disable it somehow ?

[dampeoples]

Apparently the moral is to live somewhere besides America.

[Tesseract]

Originally Posted by rickey939

Test drives kill people.

Test drives don't kill people. People kill people.

[loki74]

Originally Posted by turtle777

Uhm, not, wait, wrong pic...

There you go:



-t

Every single time someone posts a link to an article about a stupid crime this image goes up. How ridiculous. As though America is the only country with this type of crime. People like this exist everywhere.

I guess these people take any excuse they can to bash a great country.

[budster101]

I think it's great that stupid people that post that "Only in America" image show themselves for what they are... it's like they want us to know how much of an idiot they are.

Thanks for the heads up.

[SirCastor]

Wow.
That's pretty disturbing. I guess I expect it more in LA than anywhere else really. So where does this fit? Pre-meditated? This guy clearly had some plan...

[budster101]

Lay him down on the edge of a curb with his legs extended, and drive a 1975 Cadilac over his knee-caps.

The salesman did nothing to this man. What a horrible thing he has done.

[boardsurfer]

being held on suspicion of murder? "sir we suspect you stabbed this man repeatedly with a butcher knife, step this way please"

[Kevin]

Yes folks, stuff like this happens all the time all over the world. Not just America.

Least you forget were Americans come from...

We are just a reflection of the rest of the world.

[rickey939]

Originally Posted by Tesseract

Test drives don't kill people. People kill people while test driving is all.

Fixed by 939.®