MONTEREY PARK, Calif.—Sheriff’s detectives and relatives of a Marine who was beaten and run over by a car, leaving him dead on a Bellflower street, pleaded July 24 for anyone who may have witnessed the crime or have information about the killing to come forward. Bellflower is about 20 miles south of Los Angeles.
Peter Chounthala, 42, was attacked and beaten by at least two male suspects around 2 a.m. on May 28 near the intersection of Virginia Avenue and Artesia Boulevard, according to the sheriff’s department. Mr. Chounthala collapsed in the street, and was subsequently struck by a car, the driver of which fled the scene.
Mr. Chounthala, a husband and father of a 3-year-old boy, died at the scene.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $20,000 reward offer for information leading to the suspects in the case. According to the motion by Supervisor Janice Hahn, Mr. Chounthala was an active-duty Marine who served tours and was injured in Afghanistan.
There was no description of the suspects who attacked the victim and then fled the scene on foot. But sheriff’s officials said the car that subsequently struck him was a dark-colored, four-door 2021–2023 Kia K5 sedan.
“His sense of humor, his generosity ... he was everything to me, to my family, to our friends and family,” his wife, Jurina, told reporters at a news conference in Monterey Park. “He is like the glue that held all of us together.”
His sister, Witpha, said her brother “was loved by many.”
“He was a father, a husband, a brother, an uncle, a friend and a Marine,” she said.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Detectives Robert McGaughey or Steve Bragg at 323-890-5500. Anonymous tips can be made through Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).
