Left inset: Evan Hardman. Right inset: Ashley Rose Sweeting (Los Angeles Police Department). Background: The Los Angeles Police Department investigates the death of Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, who was shot to death outside his detox clinic (KABC/YouTube).
The Los Angeles Police Department arrested two people for the murder of a doctor who treated drug addiction for patients that reportedly included “celebrities, movie stars, athletes and many people of different walks of life.”
Dr. Hamid Mirshojae, 61, was leaving his Detox Woodland Hills clinic shortly after 6 p.m. Aug. 23 in the 5900 block of Topanga Canyon Boulevard when he was “ambushed and shot by a single gunman,” LAPD said. The gunman ran to an “awaiting vehicle” which then drove away, cops said.
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On Tuesday, police announced the arrests of Evan Hardman, 41, of Tomball, Texas, and Ashley Rose Sweeting, 40, of Reseda, California, for murder. Officers arrested Hardman in the Houston area and Sweeting in the San Fernando Valley. Cops did not give a motive for the slaying but they released the suspects’ photos to seek “any additional people who may have been victimized” by them. The FBI as well as local cops in Texas aided in the arrests. LAPD will submit its investigation to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office, which will consider filing formal charges.
Months before the killing, three “strangers” with baseball bats attacked Mirshojae, leaving him in fear for his life, an employee of the clinic told the Los Angeles Times. The motive of the attack never came to light as there were never any arrests and it’s not clear if it was connected in any way to the murder.
The employee, who requested anonymity out of fear for her safety, also told the Times that the murder was captured on surveillance video. A shooter came up behind the doctor and shot him at point-blank range, the employee told the newspaper.
According to his biography on his website, Mirshojae worked in addiction medicine for over a decade and provided emergency care for 20 years. It said he treated patients including celebrities, movie stars and athletes.
“He has helped thousands of patients achieve their goal of having a sober life,” the bio said.
Local CW affiliate KTLA reported the doctor hailed from Iran. Friends and former patients spoke highly of him.
“Everyone in the Woodland Hills area, even in LA, they know him because he was a really good doctor,” family friend Maryem Alaei told KTLA in the aftermath of the shooting. “Always laughing, always joking, always helping people.”
Said former patient Pamia Mazahrei: “I don’t know why bad things happen to people who are good in this world.”
