Criminal

An illustration of two woolly mammoths and a scuba diver entering a tar pit.

La Brea Dave

Episode #136

2020-03-20 11:52:40

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Sgt. David Mascarenas was the Dive Supervisor for the Los Angeles Police Department. He’s been diving his whole life, and prides himself on never refusing a dive, no matter how treacherous. At least until the summer of 2013, when a murder investigation led him into the unusually murky waters of the La Brea tar pits. 

We first spoke with Sgt. Mascarenas in 2015. This week, we’re adding to the story with information about the crime he couldn’t tell us before. In 2011, a man named Alonzo Ester was shot and killed in LA. The LAPD received a tip that some evidence was at the bottom of the La Brea tar pits.