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Police arrest Anaheim man on suspicion of running over beloved Carson High volunteer in San Pedro

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A 20-year-old Anaheim man was arrested by Los Angeles police this week on suspicion of running over and killing a beloved community member and Carson High volunteer in San Pedro last month, authorities said Friday, May 15.

Through surveillance and unique vehicle characteristics, Los Angeles detectives arrested Justin Isaiah Aranda on suspicion of running down 58-year-old Nuusoliafaifuaina Tuimoloau in the 3600 block of South Carolina Place on April 24, Detective Dave Cortez said.

Aranda, taken into custody Wednesday on suspicion of murder, was being held in jail on $2 million bail, according to inmate records. He was scheduled to appear in court Monday, where he may enter a plea to charge.

Though Aranda was arrested, detectives still didn’t know why he allegedly ran down Tuimoloau, nor were they certain why the two engaged in a confrontation as the victim was leaving his home to visit his mother, Cortez said.

“He didn’t provide much light into what the initial confrontation was about,” Cortez said, adding detectives weren’t sure why Aranda was in San Pedro the day of the incident.

  • Nuusoliafaifunaina Tuimoloau, better known as “Tui,” stands with his common-law wife Tammy Bird. The two had plans to move to Hawaii to start a sustainable farm to try to bring students out on scholarship, Bird said. Tuimoloau was killed Friday, April 24, when he was run over by a man after a confrontation while leaving his San Pedro home. (Courtesy of Tammy Bird)

  • Nuusoliafaifunaina Tuimoloau, better known as “Tui,” was a beloved father of three children. He was killed Friday, April 24, after a man ran him over following a confrontation in San Pedro. He was 58. (Courtesy of Tammy Bird)

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  • Nuusoliafaifunaina Tuimoloau, better known as “Tui” volunteered his time mentoring students at Carson High School for 13 years. He was killed Friday, April 24, after a man ran him over following a confrontation in San Pedro. He was 58. (Courtesy of Tammy Bird)

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Tuimoloau, known to many as “Tui,” was a father of three and beloved member of the community who spent more than a decade mentoring children at Carson High, said Tammy Bird, Tuimoloau’s common-law wife and a science teacher at Carson High.

He also worked as a counselor at Humboldt University and College of the Canyons, Bird said.

Many of the students he helped would still call him to catch up, she said.

“He was deeply rooted in the community,” Cortez said the day after the incident. “Everybody knew him throughout the community and he was like a father to a lot of the kids.”

News of Wednesday’s arrest came as a relief for Bird, she said on Saturday, May 16. A small funeral service was held Friday at McNerney’s Mortuary, while others joined through a live stream service, she said.

“It was bittersweet,” Bird said of hearing the news, Thursday. “There was relief. I didn’t want to walk around my neighborhood because I didn’t know if this person was walking around and I’d run into him.”

The community has given the family an outpouring of support, including a makeshift memorial at the garden Tuimoloau helped her build for students at Carson High School.

A Facebook page created in memory of Tuimoloau has also garnered responses from friends, family and former students with plenty of old photos and video.

Bird also thanked detectives for their work on the case.

“People need to know the police really did care,” she said. “People from across the country (that he has helped) have reached out. It’s been amazing.”

Aranda was scheduled to make a court appearance in Long Beach Superior Court Monday, May 18, where he may enter a plea.