Hollywood Hills searched for murder suspect
Feb 5, 2014, 1:55 AM
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies hunting for a suspected killer fanned out in the Hollywood Hills and marched down the Walk of Fame on Tuesday, but they came up empty-handed.
Authorities warned that the man is considered armed and dangerous.
More than 50 deputies, some on horses and aided by helicopters, spread out before dawn in the rugged hills above the Greek Theatre and west into a popular hiking trail in Runyon Canyon for signs of Oscar Bridges. Later in the day, deputies walked along Hollywood Boulevard with a bloodhound sniffing the star-studded pavement.
Bridges, also known as “Rick,” is a registered sex offender who frequented motels in the Hollywood and West Hollywood areas, sheriff’s officials said.
“They’re searching different businesses. They’re going to motels. They’re looking up in the hills,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.
Homicide detectives passed out flyers, knocked on doors, questioned local merchants and motel managers, and spoke to people in a homeless encampment.
“He worked for several attorneys in the area,” sheriff’s Lt. Holly Francisco said. “We’re not sure of his specific duties there, but he has connections with them.”
“Numerous people have seen him over the past couple of days in this area,” she added.
The search was called off about 3 p.m., but detectives planned to exhaust any leads about Bridges, Nishida said.
Bridges, a 6-foot-2, dreadlocked African-American man, is wanted in connection with the Jan. 23 stabbing death of Robert Brewer, 21, of Texas at a motel in the county’s unincorporated Westmont area.
Bridges, 54, has a history of assaults and drug crimes and apparently befriends boys and men from about the ages of 16 to 25, authorities said.
“He’s armed and dangerous. He’s got an extensive criminal background. He’s a registered sex offender, and we need to take him off the streets,” Nishida said.
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