Four men have been arrested in the slaying of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, Los Angeles police announced Thursday.
Law enforcement sources told The Times the investigation had focused on Florencia 13 gang members tied to catalytic converter thefts in the region.
After reviewing videos and interviewing witnesses, homicide detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department identified three men, one with distinctive facial tattoos, who they say jacked Wactor’s car on Hope Street near Pico Boulevard to steal its catalytic converter before shooting and killing him May 25.
A statement of probable cause used to obtain search warrants named Robert Barceleau, Sergio Estrada and Leonel Gutierrez, all age 18, as suspects. The three were targeted after police said their fingerprints matched those lifted from a floor jack they used while trying to steal Wactor’s catalytic converter.
Barceleau, Gutierrez and Estrada were booked on suspicion of murder on Thursday and held in lieu of $2-million bail, according to L.A. County Sheriff’s Department records. An additional person, Frank Olano, 22, was arrested on suspicion of being an accessory to murder.
Wactor had finished a shift at the nearby Level 8 bar about 3:20 a.m. when he and co-worker Anita Joy were walking to his car and interrupted the thieves.
Wactor first thought his car was being towed, Joy said. After realizing that wasn’t the case, he asked the men to leave, showing his open hands to indicate he wasn’t a threat. Nevertheless, he was shot at close range, Joy said. A security guard from the bar said he found Joy and the mortally wounded Wactor and called 911.
Joy asked Wactor whether he was OK, and he responded, “Nope. I’ve been shot,” according to the statement of probable cause.
After the shooting, the suspects fled north on Hope Street in a stolen getaway car described as a 2018 black four-door Infiniti Q50 with a tan interior, police said.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addressed the arrests Thursday, saying, “I want to thank LAPD for their partnership and hard work on this case and for their continued efforts to keep Angelenos safe and to bring justice to victims of violence. Now, we must ensure that those who are responsible for this brazen and heinous act are held fully accountable.”
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals, including rhodium, palladium and platinum. They can sell for hundreds of dollars to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards, where they can be melted down and the valuable metals extracted.
Thefts of catalytic converters skyrocketed in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. That prompted new state laws that make it illegal for recyclers to buy the parts from anyone other than the vehicle’s legal owner or a licensed dealer. Penalties were increased for buyers who fail to certify that a catalytic converter wasn’t stolen.
