Homicide Victim Identified, Person of Interest Arrested

The man who was found shot to death in a stolen vehicle in Del Rey has been identified and a person of interest has been arrested in connection with the homicide, authorities said Sunday.

The vicitm was identified as 34-year-old Michael John Baldwin, said Lt. Joe Bale of the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds and his death has been ruled as a homicide, Bale said. There was no city of residence listed for Baldwin, he said.

Baldwin was found shot to death Friday morning in a stolen Lexus in the 5500 block of Margaret Avenue in Del Rey after residents reported hearing gunshots.

A person of interest in the homicide was arrested Friday when officers were conducting surveillance at a location in Inglewood after the shooting, said Sgt. Richard Parks of the Los Angeles Police Department's Pacific Division. The man under surveillance got in his car and started driving off, Parks said. Police tried to pull him over, but the man sped away and a chase ensued until the man crashed into a parked vehicle in Inglewood and then got out and started running, Parks said. The man was caught and arrested for investigation of felony evasion of arrest, Parks said.

It was not immediately known if the person in custody was directly involved in the Del Rey homicide and he is considered a person of interest, Parks said. The man's identity was not released.

It also was not immediately known when the man would be arraigned.

Baldwin was found in a Lexus that had been stolen a few weeks ago in West Los Angeles, police said.

Baldwin was shot and killed on Margaret Avenue just north of Jefferson Boulevard and south of Juniette Street. Apartment complexes line the stretch of Jefferson Boulevard near where the shooting took place, but the neighborhood just north of the busy street consists mostly of quiet, single-family homes.