The young man who died from a fall at a Valencia apartment complex Monday has been identified as 20-year-old Lucas Rodriguez, of Valencia.
Lt. David Smith with the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Department released the young man’s identity Wednesday morning, noting that a cause and manner of death in the case have yet to be determined.
Rodriguez was pronounced dead at the hospital Monday night after he was found unresponsive and bleeding from the mouth that afternoon, about 2:45 p.m., on a sidewalk inside the Bridgeport Coast Apartments complex, at the southwest corner of Newhall Ranch Road and McBean Parkway.
Sgt. Tim O’Quinn, with the Los Angeles County Sheriff Department’s Homicide Bureau, told The Signal late Tuesday afternoon that the victim fell from a roof at the apartment complex and that he believed the death was “self-initiated.”
“I don’t know if he fell off the roof or jumped off the roof,” he said. “It’s actually whatever the coroner rules.
“Nobody else was up there,” O’Quinn said, referring to the roof. “In my opinion it was self-initiated. Reasons as to why are still unclear.”
The coroner is expected to determine the precise cause and manner of death.
“There were lots of witnesses at the complex who saw him alone, walking around and actually climbing up onto the roof from the opposing side of the building,” O’Quinn said Tuesday.
On Tuesday, O’Quinn was still trying to determine if the young man intended to take his own life or if he fell, for whatever reason.
Deputies with the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station responded to reports of a man found bleeding on the sidewalk at the Bridgeport Coast Apartments.
Paramedics were dispatched at 2:53 p.m. to the 24100 block of Newhall Ranch Road based on reports of a “man down” and bleeding.
“This call came in as a man down with blood coming from his mouth,” Inspector Joey Marron of the Los Angeles County Fire Department told The Signal Tuesday morning.
“The patient was taken to Henry Mayo (Newhall) Hospital,” Marron said.
Homicide detectives took over the case when the young man died later in hospital.
661-287-5527
on Twitter @jamesarthurholt
