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NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CNS) - A suspect's distinctive facial tattoos helped police arrest him on suspicion of shooting a man to death inside a camping trailer in North Hollywood, authorities said today.
Officers responding at about 2:20 p.m. Friday to an ambulance shooting call at Vanowen Street and Camellia Avenue located a man inside a camper trailer suffering from a gunshot wound. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene, the Los Angeles Police Department reported.
Several witnesses identified the suspect by name and his distinctive facial tattoos during an investigation that also revealed he left the scene in a white Toyota Camry, police said. The Camry was located shortly afterward in the 7000 block of Worster Avenue and impounded.
Police later received a radio call at about 3 a.m. Saturday of a battery suspect at a convenience store in the area of Whitsett Avenue and Victory Boulevard. That suspect was arrested on suspicion of battery and brought to the LAPD's North Hollywood station, where his distinctive facial tattoos were ``observed and recognized,'' police said.
LAPD Valley Bureau homicide detectives responded to the North Hollywood station and identified Ricardo Martinez, 25, of North Hollywood as the suspect in the camper trailer shooting. Martinez was arrested on suspicion of murder and booked at the Van
Nuys Jail, where he was being held in lieu of $2,185,000 bail. The LAPD's Valley Bureau homicide unit urged anyone with information about the shooting to call them at 818-374-9550 or Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.