Edgar Adolfo Barrientos, 37

Edgar Adolfo Barrientos, a 37-year-old Latino, was fatally stabbed Sunday, Dec. 21, near Beachy Avenue and Tonopah Street in Arleta, according to Los Angeles County coroner’s records.

About 4 a.m., people in the area reported a disturbance, said Lt. Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department.

“One description was that someone was doing doughnuts in the street, screeching tires,” Vernon said. “But no one called police right away.”

Two residents went out to investigate and discovered another neighbor riding in the car with the two other men, police said.

When the residents confronted the car’s occupants, the driver began stabbing Barrientos with a knife while the other two people in the car assisted in the attack, police said.

Barrientos was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m., according to coroner’s records.

The neighbor who had been riding in the car was later arrested in his home. The two other occupants of the car remain at large. Both of the men appear to be in their 20s, one is tall with a beard, wearing a hat, and was last seen armed with a gun.

The other was short and armed with a knife.

Javier Garcia, a 22-year-old Latino, was charged Jan. 6 with one count of murder, one count of assault with great bodily injury, two counts of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Anyone with information is asked to call Det. Gene Parshall, Mission Homicide, at (818) 838-9954. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call Crime Stoppers at (800) 222-8477.

-- Los Angeles Times Staff