Feb. 09--Four people were taken into custody early Tuesday after a man was found shot to death in a car bearing an Uber sticker in Lincoln Heights.
TV news footage showed the man in the driver's seat of a bullet-riddled Toyota sedan in the 2900 block of Broadway near Griffin Avenue.
Los Angeles police responded at 2:12 a.m. to a report of shots fired and found the 35-year-old man covered in blood inside the car, said Officer Liliana Preciado, a Los Angeles Police Department spokeswoman. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not identified. Preciado said detectives were investigating.
The shooting appeared to be gang related, officials said.
LAPD Police Chief Charlie Beck said Tuesday that although the victim was driving a vehicle with an Uber decal, the victim did not work for the ride-sharing company. The sticker was "attached to" someone else who is an Uber driver, he said.
"We don't know the connection between those two people yet -- if there is any," he said.
Capt. Edward Pape told reporters earlier that certain tactics are used to disguise criminal activity.
"Uber drivers right now are the big craze, are the big thing instead of using taxis, so that may or may not be the case here," Pape said.
Officers at the scene observed four people fleeing the area in an SUV and followed them onto the 10 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said.
Officers from the California Highway Patrol followed the SUV on the freeway and along several surface streets. The SUV was finally stopped about 3:15 a.m. in Hacienda Heights, CHP Officer Peter Bishop said.
The driver and passengers -- two men and two women -- were taken into custody and handed over to LAPD detectives, officials said.
The victim, driver and passengers were documented gang members, Beck said.
Staff writer Kate Mather contributed to this report.
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