Crime & Safety

Echo Park Man Shot by Police Dies

Long-time Echo Park resident David "Dizzy" Martinez, shot by police at the corner of Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard as he waited for his wife to bring him tacos, died Wednesday morning from a seizure, according to his mother Angie Cano.

Cano told Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch that Martinez, who was hospitalized after the shooting, had been again released recently from Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center and was on his way to the hospital for a check up when the first signs of something wrong appeared.

Cano said a friend riding the bus with him noticed that he suddenly appeared confused, asking where he was going and why he was riding the bus. According to Cano, Martinez arrived at the hospital about 8:30 a.m. and then had a seizure. He was rushed in to the emergency room, she said, but appeared to have no vital signs.

Cano said an autopsy will be performed on Martinez to determine the exact cause of his death. Cano said he will be cremated with a funeral likely at some point.

Martinez's brother Rudy told us in an email, "I feel that how he is finally happy and free of worries.  I will miss him very much."

The Los Angeles Police Department's Force Investigation Division had been investigating the incident, in which the LAPD admitted that officers "initiated contact" with Martinez the night of March 19, 2013.

A benefit car wash for funeral expenses will be held a car wash fundraiser will be held on Saturday, May 18 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at El Centro Del Pueblo, 1157 Lemoyne Street.

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