Luis Fernando Cuba was 47 years old when he died on the night of Saturday, December 1, 2018, after he was dragged by his own vehicle as thieves drove it away outside a convenience store in Lawndale. According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner, he died of blunt force trauma, and his death was ruled a homicide. The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau.
Luis lived in neighboring Hawthorne. At about 8:25 p.m. that Saturday, according to the Sheriff's Department, he parked his van in front of a convenience store in the 4400 block of Redondo Beach Boulevard, near Hawthorne Boulevard, and got out, leaving the engine running. As he walked toward the store, one or more people climbed into the van and began to drive away. Luis ran after it. "The victim grabbed ahold of the passenger door and was dragged a couple of hundred yards before he fell off," the Sheriff's Department said. He was taken to a hospital, where he died later that night. No description of the thieves was released.
Days later, Luis's relatives and friends gathered in Lawndale to honor him and to demand justice for his death, a gathering covered by Univision. Beyond that, little about his life has been made public.
Luis did what many people would do on instinct when they see someone stealing their vehicle: he tried to stop it. A death caused during the theft of a car is treated as a homicide, and in California the person who causes a death while committing a felony such as vehicle theft or carjacking can be charged with murder. The thieves drove off with his van, which means the vehicle itself may later have been found, abandoned or stripped, and could have carried fingerprints or other evidence.
Lawndale is a small South Bay city of about two square miles and roughly 32,000 people, between Hawthorne, Redondo Beach and Torrance. It contracts with the Sheriff's Department for police services. Redondo Beach Boulevard is one of its main commercial streets, lined with small shops, gas stations and convenience stores, and the area near Hawthorne Boulevard is busy with traffic at night. Businesses along the boulevard commonly have cameras facing their parking lots.
Homicides across Los Angeles County in 2018 were near their lowest levels in decades, yet a large share of killings still ended without an arrest. Vehicle thefts in which an owner is hurt or killed draw public attention for a few days, and then often fade from view without an arrest.
No arrest, criminal charge or court case connected to the death of Luis Fernando Cuba could be found in news archives or public records. Nearly eight years later, there is no public sign that anyone has been held responsible. Anyone who was on Redondo Beach Boulevard near Hawthorne Boulevard on the evening of December 1, 2018, or who knows what happened to his van afterward, 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 Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at 323-890-5500, or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS.
