Killed over $10: Teenager arrested after relative of discount shop owner is run over trying to prevent shoplifting

A teenager has been arrested in connection with the death of a man who was killed in a hit-and-run after he tried to stop shoplifters from fleeing with a $10 box of surgical masks.

The 16-year-old boy has been identified as the driver involved in the killing of 60-year-old Kourosh “Steve” Yaghoubi in South El Monte, Los Angeles, on April 9.

The teenager, who has not been named because of his age, was also with a group that police are still working to identify.

Yaghoubi was helping out his brother, Jim Yaghoubi, at the family-owned Giant Discount Store around 12:18 p.m. when a shoplifter walked out with the box of masks without paying, the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department said. It is not clear if the 16-year-old was in the store at the time.

The brothers followed the shoplifter into the parking lot, where a fight happened, according to police.

Jim Yaghoubi said that two men got out of a vehicle and started attacking his brother. “Doors open, two other guys exit the car, and one of them punches my brother in the head, he holds his head and he goes down,” he told ABC7.

The teen was allegedly behind the wheel and struck Yaghoubi several times as other members of their group fled the scene, police said. Authorities said the victim was intentionally hit with the car.

“I don’t know what to do anymore,” John Yaghoubi told KTLA after the incident. “I lost my older brother four years ago, and my mom is 94 years old. She’s still in mourning for the first one. I don’t know how I’m going to tell her.”

When police arrived at the scene, they found the victim unconscious and suffering from blunt force trauma. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

“I don’t know why this happened. Honestly. I was there at the last minute of his life. I saw his face. I saw his eyes,” Jim Yaghoubi added.

The case is being presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office for formal charges, police said.