Police seek murder suspect who was mistakenly released from L.A. jail
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Police shut down the southbound side of the 101 Freeway in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon as they searched for a man mistakenly released from jail, where he had been held on a murder charge, authorities said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office notified the Long Beach Police Department on Tuesday that Steven Manzo, whom Long Beach detectives had arrested a year earlier on suspicion of murder, had been released from custody, according to Allison Gallagher, a spokeswoman for the Long Beach police.
“He should not have been released,” Gallagher said.
Booking records show that Manzo was released from county jail at 2:12 p.m. Tuesday, with the stated reason being that his case was dismissed. A spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department referred questions about Manzo’s release to the Long Beach police.
Manzo’s release was the result of a paperwork error that took place after he was arraigned in a Long Beach courtroom Monday afternoon, according to two law enforcement officials with knowledge of the investigation. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity.
Manzo, a resident of Hawaiian Gardens, was arrested in connection with the killing of Salvador Corrales, 24, who was found fatally wounded in his car on July 26, 2018. Long Beach detectives concluded that Manzo and Corrales got into a dispute in a parking lot that devolved into gunfire, according to a police statement.
The late-winter storm could bring lightning, thunder and hail along with significant rain and snow to Los Angeles County.
Manzo was charged with murder last March, but the prosecutor on the case dismissed and refiled the case Monday, according to one law enforcement official. The refiling was a procedural issue stemming from the fact that Manzo had not had a preliminary hearing in a timely manner, the official said.
Sheriff’s deputies spotted Manzo around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday near the 101 Freeway and Vignes Street and requested the Los Angeles Police Department’s help in apprehending him, a spokesman for the LAPD said.
Police set up a perimeter, and the California Highway Patrol diverted cars off the 101 at Los Angeles Street, backing up traffic at the peak of rush hour.
Manzo eluded the dragnet, and the freeway was later reopened, police said.
Gallagher said the Long Beach police “will work with local agencies to make every effort to locate suspect Manzo to take him safely into custody.”
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