Last summer, we brought you a sad tragedy from the streets of Hollywood involving a love triangle involving a gang-banging drug dealer, a young woman, and the struggling MMA-fighter they allegedly murdered.
Now, there's a coda to the murder of Michael Rivera. The father of the man police say pulled the trigger on New Jersey native was recently swept up in a heroin bust. Unfortunately, if the charges pan out, it's a case of like father, like son: Before his arrest in the Rivera killing, 18-year-old Alex Cabrera was also linked to the Hollywood heroin trade.
Forty-eight-year-old Augustin Cabrera -- also spelled "Agustin" in court files -- already had numerous drug charges going back to 1989, including possession of heroin and cocaine as well as a burglary charge. This set the stage for his son, Alex, who was well-known to Hollywood PD before the Rivera murder in 2013. In August 2012, a then-17-year-old Cabrera was roughed up by police after fleeing in his car -- a beatdown that was caught on videotape. His parents, including Augustin, were all over the nightly news complaining about police brutality.
Then, according to Hollywood Police records, this January detectives received a tip from a confidential informant about individuals moving large quantities of heroin on the city's east side. The informer told cops Augustin Cabrera -- street-named Negro -- another man, and a woman were moving the product out of a pair of apartments on Taft Street. "Augustin Cabrera is also involved in the sale of handguns and weapons," police were also told, according to the records.
Police posted up outside the Taft Street apartments. The informer made a half-dozen controlled heroin buys. He also purchased a .45 caliber handgun from Cabrera. "All these purchases," the police report notes, "were within 1,000 feet of a school."
On February 3, Hollywood SWAT raided the apartments. Inside, they found Cabrera, Scott Cinelli, 24, and Katie Cafferata, 20. They also uncovered a stash of drugs: 34 grams of cocaine; 23.4 grams of heroin; and 29.8 grams of flakka, the pink crystal street bath salt that tested positive for heroin. Police also found baggies, a safe, and a digital scale.
Cabrera is now facing three charges of selling heroin within 1,000 feet of a school, a weapons offense, and possession of a weapon by a felon. Cafferata and Cinelli are facing trafficking and possession charges.
Ironically, the same Hollywood detective who busted Augustin Cabrera -- Sergio Lopez -- also collared Alex Cabrera for selling heroin out of a Washington Street apartment in July 2013.
The Rivera murder case is still winding through the legal system.
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