2 arrested in ‘park tax’ shakedown of LA homeless man who was shot with converted paintball gun
By Wes Woods
Los Angeles Daily News
September 8, 2017
Two men were arrested Thursday on suspicion of using a paintball gun that was converted into a real weapon to shoot and “tax” a homeless man living in a North Hollywood park, authorities said.
The alleged crime took place at 5 p.m. Aug. 29 at Laurel Grove Park, said Los Angeles Police Department detective Dan Fournier.
George Rosales, 26, of North Hollywood and Jesus Guzman, 22, who is a transient, were both arrested on Thursday in connection with the shooting, Fournier said.
Fournier said the suspects were forcing the homeless man to pay a “tax” of $25 a week to live at the park, a small piece of land between Laurel Grove Avenue and the 170 Freeway.
Fournier said one of the suspects told the victim, “If you don’t pay I’ll have to shoot you.” The victim took off running, and he was shot in the back with birdshot.
Birdshot is shotgun-shell ammunition, the detective said. The injured man had 22 small, half-inch-long wounds on his back, Fournier added. He was treated for wounds that were not life-threatening and released from the hospital. But not before he was able to help identify the suspects.
“It’s kind of unusual,” Fournier said of the weapon. “I’ve seen them in the past — it’s a homemade gun.”
The gun was recovered, and the victim, age 33, said he had been “taxed” by the duo for “quite awhile.”
Police believe the two men might be involved in more “taxing” crimes.
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Only in L.A.
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