Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon will announce criminal charges Monday in the murder of “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor, who was killed in May by men suspected of trying to steal his car’s catalytic converter.
Los Angeles Police Department Acting Chief Dominic Choi will also be present at the news conference scheduled for 3 p.m. at the Hall of Justice downtown, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office issued Sunday.
Four men have been arrested in connection with the killing, Los Angeles police said last week. Law enforcement sources told the Times that the investigation has focused on members of the Florencia 13 gang linked to catalytic converter thefts in the area.
After reviewing video and interviewing witnesses, LAPD homicide detectives identified three men, one of whom had distinctive facial tattoos, who they believe carjacked Wactor’s car on Hope Street near Pico Boulevard in order to steal his catalytic converter on the morning of May 25. Wactor was shot and killed as he confronted the men.
Robert Barceleau, Leonel Gutierrez and Sergio Estrada were arrested Thursday on suspicion of murder and held on $2 million bail, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department records. Another person, Frank Olano, 22, was arrested on suspicion of accessory to murder.
Wactor had just finished a late-night bar shift at nearby bar Level 8 around 3:20 a.m. when he and his colleague Anita Joy walked to his car and interrupted the robbers.
Wactor initially thought his car was being towed, Joy said. After realizing that wasn’t the case, he asked the men to leave, holding up his hands to indicate he wasn’t a threat. Nevertheless, he was shot at close range, Joy said. A security guard at the bar said he found Joy and Wactor mortally wounded and called 911.
After the shooting, the suspects fled north on Hope Street in a stolen car described as a black 2018 Infiniti Q50 four-door with a tan interior, police said.
Thieves target catalytic converters because they contain precious metals, including rhodium, palladium and platinum. They can be sold for hundreds of dollars to auto parts suppliers or scrapyards, where they can be melted down and the precious metals extracted.
Catalytic converter thefts have skyrocketed in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s led to new state laws prohibiting recyclers from purchasing the parts from anyone other than the vehicle’s legal owner or an authorized dealer. Penalties have been increased for buyers who don’t certify that a catalytic converter isn’t stolen.
