Man arrested after Long Beach chase charged in unrelated homicide

A Los Angeles man who police arrested in mid-January after a chase that followed an alleged carjacking has been charged with murder after Long Beach homicide detectives coected him to an unrelated crime, Long Beach police aounced Monday.

Keonte Jones, 23, of Los Angeles, is charged with the murder of Roosevelt Keondrae Newton, 34, of Long Beach. Newton died Dec. 11 in a hospital, one day after he was shot near the crossing of Washington Street and Orange Avenue.

Long Beach police detectives presented their case against Jones to the Los Angeles County District Attoey’s office on Jan. 22. He was subsequently charged and his arraignment took place Jan. 27.

The police department’s statement did not indicate whether Jones entered a plea. His next court appearance is set for Tuesday.

Before prosecutors filed charges, Long Beach police arrested Jones on Jan. 16 after a vehicle pursuit that began shortly after 5 p.m. that day near the intersection of 20th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue after an officer spotted a vehicle suspected to have been coected with an armed carjacking that had taken place in Los Angeles.

The occupants of that vehicle, one of whom was later identified by Long Beach police as Jones, attempted to flee officers. The vehicle crashed into a blue truck near the intersection of 20th Street and Cherry Avenue before a second collision occurred near the crossing of 14th Street and Orange Avenue.

Jones reportedly tried to run away from the scene of the second collision, but Long Beach officers managed to catch him and make an arrest without any further incident, police reported.

Jones is currently being held at Los Angeles County Men’s Central Jail on $4 million bail.

- - , .