Joseph Dennis Bongarzone was 65 years old when he died on Wednesday, October 2, 2019, in Santa Monica. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died after sustaining blunt force trauma near 410 Broadway. His death was ruled a homicide, and it was investigated by the Santa Monica Police Department.
He was a white man in his mid-60s. Beyond his name, his age and the place where he died, almost nothing about Joseph Dennis Bongarzone has been made public. No obituary, memorial page or family fundraiser could be found for this story, and no news outlet appears to have reported on the death. He surely had family, friends or neighbors who remember who he was, but none of that has entered the public record. His family name is an Italian one, and the other Bongarzones found online appear to be unrelated.
Because so little has been released, even the basic circumstances remain unknown to the public. The record does not say whether he was beaten in a fight, attacked by a stranger, assaulted indoors or on the street, or struck by a vehicle, all of which can lead to a finding of blunt force trauma. It does not say what time of day he was hurt, whether he died at the scene or later at a hospital, whether anyone saw what happened, or whether investigators ever identified a suspect.
The 400 block of Broadway is in downtown Santa Monica, a block from the Third Street Promenade and a short walk from the Santa Monica Pier and the beach. The area is crowded with shoppers, tourists, office workers and residents of the many apartment buildings nearby. It also has a large population of people without homes, who sleep in doorways, on benches and in the parks along Ocean Avenue. Santa Monica, a city of about 90,000, has its own police department and normally records only a handful of homicides a year, so a beating death in the heart of downtown is unusual.
Los Angeles recorded about 260 homicides in 2019, among the lowest yearly totals in more than half a century, yet many of those killings still went unsolved. In Santa Monica, homicides were rare enough that each one usually drew coverage, but the death of a 65-year-old man on Broadway does not appear to have been reported.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Joseph Dennis Bongarzone could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly seven years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. People who live or work near 4th Street and Broadway, or who were downtown in early October 2019, may remember a fight, an assault or a police response. Many businesses in downtown Santa Monica have security cameras, and anyone who knew him may hold information that could help. Even a small detail, such as a name overheard, a vehicle seen nearby or a conversation remembered, can help detectives move a case forward. Anyone with information can contact the Santa Monica Police Department, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
