A West Covina man who allegedly killed a jogger with his car in Walnut – possibly on purpose – will be arraigned Wednesday after his arrest on suspicion of murder.
Thirty-six-year-old Haissam Massalkhy was booked at the Los Angeles County Inmate Reception Center on suspicion of murder Monday and was being held in lieu of $1 million bail, according to inmate records. He is due in a Pomona courtroom for Wednesday’s arraignment.
The incident appears to have been intentional, though the driver and the jogger did not know each other, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. David Buckner said. There were no immediate details to explain why authorities believe the death may have been intentional.
A 1989 Toyota Camry allegedly driven by Massalkhy had been going east on La Puente Road before 5:50 a.m. Monday when it struck a man jogging in the bike lane from behind, said Lt. Steve Jauch of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Bureau.
The Camry then carried the jogger several yards on the hood of the car until it went off the road at Citadel Drive and smashed through the backyard wall of a home on Barnard Avenue, Jauch said.
The victim was 59-year-old Chi Shao of Walnut, according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies were dispatched in response to a 911 call from a homeowner in the 20200 block of Barnard Avenue. Shao was pronounced dead at the scene, said Deputy Sara Rodriguez of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau.
Sheriff’s homicide detectives asked anyone with information regarding the death to call them at (323) 890-5500.
—City News Service