Man commits suicide after police discover woman’s body in Hollywood

A man committed suicide in Hollywood Monday after a dramatic chase by police, who wanted to question the man following the discovery of a woman’s body.

Police said officers were sent to an apartment in the 2700 block of Taft Street to perform a welfare check just after 5 a.m.

Inside the apartment, they discovered a woman’s body and two unharmed, sleeping children, said police spokeswoman Meredith Elrich.

The children were turned over to family members.

In their investigation, police received word that a man wanted for questioning was driving toward the apartment building, to the 2600 block of Adams Street. The man arrived around 8:45 a.m.

“They made contact with him. He stopped his vehicle, he fled out of the vehicle and ended up taking his own life,” Elrich said.

Leon Gagliardi, who lives on the block, described the chase.

“This red Explorer comes zooming down the street, turns really fast and the cop backs up, turns around and goes after it like in a chase,” Gagliardi said. “Then about two minutes later you hear all these cop cars coming out and, oh my God, you heard the screaming going on... The next thing you know there’s like a ‘pop’ really loud.”

Police have not released the names of either of the dead.

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 6:24 PM with the headline "Man commits suicide after police discover woman’s body in Hollywood."