The man who was armed with a machete when he was shot to death by LAPD officers on Sunset Boulevard last month has been identified as a 22-year-old man from Hollywood.
Nathaniel R. Pinnock was killed during a confrontation near a Chick-Fil-A restaurant Nov. 25, after police said Pinnock had robbed an auto parts store nearby and carjacked a person waiting in the restaurant drive through.
Court records show Pinnock was arrested and prosecuted in 2017 for prostitution and trespassing but the charges were dismissed. No other criminal cases were on file in Los Angeles County.
The shooting happened after LAPD officers were called to a report of a robbery at an Auto Zone store on Highland Avenue around 11:30 a.m. Pinnock had allegedly tried to steal a car battery and jumper cables while armed with the machete.
Police said store employees followed him on foot and called 911. They reported that Pinnock had gone to the parking lot of the restaurant at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and McCadden Place.
Once there, witnesses said Pinnock pulled open the door of a dark colored sedan in the drive-through line and stole the car.
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“He hijacked the car, and then the guy, the driver, hops out of the car,” said Clinton Dunnels, a witness who recorded part of the incident on his cellphone.
Dunnels said by the time of the carjacking police had arrived and immediately saw Pinnock holding the machete.
“Since he had the machete in his hand, honestly, they should’ve went ahead and just shot, because he could have easily stabbed or killed anybody,” Dunnels said.
Pinnock drove the sedan over a curb and tried to maneuver around the LAPD cars stopped on McCadden Place but crashed. Video from the scene showed he got out of the car and ran north across Sunset Blvd.
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Officers followed, and Pinnock turned and walked towards them. That part of the confrontation and the shooting was recorded on video by another bystander.
LAPD Lt. Chris Ramirez told reporters at the scene Pinnock was still armed with the machete, and said the officers fired their guns after other weapons failed.
“The officers gave chase and used less lethal options, that suspect was struck, fell to the ground, and was taken into custody,” Ramirez said. Pinnock was pronounced dead at a hospital.
