Written by AARON CASTREJON CityWatch Editor LA VERNE - A man wanted on suspicion of child sex abuse died in City of Industry after crashing at the end of a pursuit with the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and California Highway Patrol Thursday.
Raul Munoz Jr., 62, was identified by the abuse victim who claimed that he sexually assaulted her over a period of six years beginning when she was 8, according to the La Verne Police Department. Munoz, a La Verne resident, was known to the victim. The investigation began June 10, 2020 in the 1000 block of Baseline Road. After investigating, the case was presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, which filed charges, including continual sexual abuse of a child and lewd acts upon a child, La Verne Police said. A felony warrant was issued for Munoz’s arrest. During the pursuit, CHP officers received information that Munoz was potentially armed and possibly suicidal, according to Rodrigo Jimenez, public information officer for the California Highway Patrol Baldwin Park Office. “The vehicle entered a private parking lot (southeast corner of Grand Avenue and Baker Parkway) and, for unknown reason, the vehicle traveled directly into a steel shipping container at a high rate of speed,” Jimenez said in a written statement. Officers gave verbal commands for Munoz to surrender, but they did not receive an answer. When they approached the vehicle, they discovered Munoz was dead. Munoz’s suicide was the result of blunt force injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner. It is not immediately clear if the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s pursuit was related to the sex abuse case. |
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