Man, 19, Shot to Death After Taking Pair on Test-Drive

A North Hollywood man was found shot to death on a street near his home half an hour after he took two men on a test-drive in a $2,000 sports car he was selling, Los Angeles police said Monday.

The body of Richard Ronald Davis, 19, was discovered about 9:30 p.m. Sunday near a curb in the 6600 block of Teesdale Avenue by a resident of the street returning home, Detective Mike Coffey said.

Davis had been shot several times and had crawled along the street, in an apparent effort to reach help, before dying. Coffey said neighbors on the street had heard several popping sounds but had been unaware that they were gunfire.

Coffey said investigators are unsure of a motive for the slaying. Davis’ 1973 Datsun 240Z, which he had been trying to sell, was stolen but it was not believed that Davis had much money with him when he took two strangers for a ride in the car.

“It’s kind of hard to figure,” Coffey said. “The only object of a robbery seems to have been the car. But how much could the car be worth? It would have been a lot simpler to rip one off the street with no one in it.”

Davis, a moving company employee who had bought the Datsun Sept. 5, according to state vehicle records, lived with his mother and sister on Welby Way about two blocks from where his body was found.

Davis’ mother told investigators that her son had advertised the car for sale for $2,000 in a regional auto sales magazine, Coffey said. Earlier Sunday, Davis had received a call from a man police believe may have been one of the gunmen, and the appointment for the test-drive was set for later that evening.

About 9 p.m., two men came to his door and Davis told his mother that he would be back after taking them on a test-drive. His mother and sister did not see the men, and police have no description of them, Coffey said.

The stolen sports car was described as red with a slight dent in the rear, revealing yellow paint beneath. The license tag is 240 HSC, Coffey said.

Caution Advised

Police advised those with cars for sale to take precautions when dealing with strangers who ask to test-drive the vehicle. Police said sellers should not allow themselves to be outnumbered inside the car, or to go on a test-drive without alerting a family member or an acquaintance.

“Never go into these things alone,” said Officer Bill Frio, a department spokesman. “Get your neighbor and ask him to stand by for a minute. Let people know what you are doing, who you are doing it with and where you are going.”

Frio said sellers should choose their own test route and drive it themselves to see how long it takes, then alert a family member or neighbor to call police if they do not return in the expected length of time.

Frio said sellers should write down license plate numbers of the cars that buyers arrive in. If two people come for a test-drive, take them out one at a time. “Split them up and make it difficult for them to keep their anonymity,” he said.