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By Olin Ericksen
June 6 -- Police cameras watching parts of Downtown
may have led to the capture of a homeless man authorities
believe is responsible for fatally beating another reportedly
homeless man in the head with a metal pipe.
The man may have attacked a second person over the weekend
and has at least one prior arrest for such an assault, police
said.
In a tragic reminder of the dangers of living on the street,
Joshua Dante Chiaromonte, 32, allegedly killed Reza Homadbadi
Tehrani, 37, by striking him in the head with a blunt object,
believed to be a three-foot metal pipe.
Tehrani was found dead Sunday morning under a bench in Palisades
Park. Both men are believed to be homeless. (see
story)
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| Joshua Dante Chiaromonte
(Photo courtesy of Santa Monica Police Department) |
Chiaromonte also allegedly carried out a similar recent attack
against another homeless man at around 2 a.m. on June 3, in
the 200 block of Santa Monica Boulevard, police said. That
man, 59-year-old John Pohlman, is recovering at a local hospital
from non-life threatening injuries, police said.
Chiaromonte was also reportedly arrested last December for
striking a third homeless man with an object. For that crime,
he was arrested, served time and probation and was released,
police said.
"It's quite disturbing that someone can go around with
these violent tendencies," said Lt. Alex Padilla, the
Police Department spokesman. "What we want to do is bring
closure to the families. Even though someone is homeless,
many still have families who care about them."
Officers responding to a call for assistance at around 8
a.m. Sunday found Tehrani under a park bench near the Camera
Obscura building in Palisades Park with blood on his face.
It is not known how long Tehrani was dead or when he was killed.
Police are still looking for a motive, Padilla said.
The County Coroners Office was expected to review the body
today, but did not return calls by deadline.
Police credited the quick arrest to the use of Downtown surveillance
cameras used to identify Chiaromonte.
The $1.3 million camera system paid for with City funds --
and first promoted as a way to deter and prevent terrorism
-- was installed last year and activated in early 2007.
Images captured on the system have reportedly been used as
evidence in other cases, despite its short tenure, police
said.
Padilla declined to state whether the actual crime was captured
on video or whether footage was used in some other way to
determine the identity of Tehrani's attacker.
"A photograph of Chiaromonte was put on a police bulletin,
and officers assigned to the 3rd Street Promenade detail were
able to identify him," Padilla said in a statement.
Chiaromonte was already behind bars at 6 a.m. Sunday for
trespassing and probation violations at the LAX Airport Courthouse.
Santa Monica Police drove to the court and arrested Chiaromonte
for murder after he was identified.
Padilla said Police have no indication that he has any prior
history of mental illness.
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