Man arrested in connection with deadly Metro bus stabbing in Highland Park
One of three men sought in connection with the stabbing death of a Metro bus passenger has been arrested near the site of the attack, authorities said Wednesday.
Deputies had been working on tracking the men’s whereabouts and found Allen Jay Milton, 43, near Avenue 57 and Figueroa Street on Tuesday, said Ramon Montenegro, spokesman for the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Transit Service Bureau.
They recognized Milton from photographs of the suspects released earlier this week, Montenegro said.
Milton was taken into custody and later booked on suspicion of murder. He is being held in lieu of $1 million bail.
Milton is believed to be the main aggressor in the Metro attack and the one who dealt the fatal stab, Montenegro said.
He is believed to be one of three men who boarded bus line 81 at Avenue 57 and Figueroa about 10:40 p.m. Monday. The men walked to the rear of the bus and began arguing with a man who was sitting alone, authorities said. That’s when one of the three men pulled out a knife and stabbed the man in the chest.
The bus stopped at Figueroa and Meridian, and the three men ran off, officials said. Investigators later released photographs of the men taken from surveillance video footage inside the bus.
Deputies had been searching the area and interviewing residents and business owners. At the crime scene, they discovered one of the men had been carrying beer, so they tracked down liquor stores in the area and talked to workers, Montenegro said.
One of the three men continued using his transit access pass after the attack, unwittingly providing deputies with another way of following the suspects, Montenegro said.
“The prompt arrest of one of the three suspects in the bus stabbing on Monday night was made possible thanks to the images captured by the video cameras inside the bus, and the work of the LASD Transit Policing deputies and Homicide detectives,†Metro Safety Director Alex Wiggins said in a statement.
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