Anaheim Murder, Kidnapping Suspect Shot By Police; Victim Found Safe
SAN DIEGO (CBSLA.com) — A man suspected of fatally shooting a man in Anaheim and kidnapping a 23-year-old woman last week was shot early Thursday by police in Old Town San Diego after his victim escaped, authorities said.
The father of the kidnapped woman, Brianne Deese, told Anaheim police detectives that she called him from San Diego and said she had escaped her captor.
The suspect, identified by police as Luke Theodore Lampers, a 35-year-old transient, was wanted in the Jan. 11 fatal shooting of 49-year-old Douglas Navarro at the Crystal Inn in Anaheim.
"Detectives and investigators responded immediately and located the victim," said Sgt. Daron Wyatt of the Anaheim Police Department. "The continuing investigation led them to a motel in the 4000 block of Taylor (Street) in San Diego where Lampers was believed to be."
San Diego police responded to assist as Lampers was seen arriving at the motel in a vehicle, Wyatt said.
Contact with Lampers led to a brief foot pursuit, Wyatt said, followed by an officer-involved shooting.
Police did not say what prompted the shooting, which happened just after midnight. Lampers was struck by the gunfire and taken to a San Diego-area hospital.
Lampers is suspected of gunning down Navarro on Jan. 11 in the motel at 2123 W. Lincoln Avenue where he was living and where his mother also lived and worked as a maid and in maintenance.
Deese was staying with someone at the motel and apparently left with Lampers and returned sometime later, Wyatt said. She was trying to get into a room where she was staying to retrieve some personal belongings when Navarro intervened to say she wasn't registered at the motel as a guest in that room, Wyatt said.
Lampers apparently saw an animated discussion between the two and allegedly shot Navarro, Wyatt said.
Then Lampers -- at gunpoint -- told Deese to leave with him, Wyatt said.
Deese's family made public pleas to Lampers last week, asking him to turn himself in and let Deese go.
(©2017 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
