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Herbert Wong, also known as Tom Dong, L.A. Homicide No. 123: Asian Porn Star killed in Samurai-style Sword Attack in Van Nuys [Updated with Victim identified]

A 30-year-old porn actor who went by the stage name Tom Dong was killed in a Samurai-style sword attack in Van Nuys June 1. According to police reports, Herbert Wong, whose stage name was Tom Dong, was attacked along with two others who worked at Ultima DVD Inc., an adult video warehouse near Hayvenhurst Avenue and Saticoy Street about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday.

Wong and several other people were assembling a metal rack when they heard a scream, according to Price. Wong and another man ran to the aid of the victim when they were both stabbed. Wong was stabbed in the abdomen and died at a nearby hospital. One of the survivors was cut on the arm, and the other was cut on the shoulder.

The suspect in the attack is 30-year-old Steven Hill, a struggling porn star who went by the stage name Steven Driver. Hill had been sleeping on a couch at the porn warehouse, and had been updating the adult based website as well as acting in a few movies. Police said Hill was asked to move out a few weeks earlier.

"[Hill] wasn't performing up to standards and a few weeks ago he was told he would have to leave," said LAPD detective Joel Price. "They weren't happy with his product and he had been given a date of [June 2] to leave...He knew today was the day he had to be gone."

Hill was on probation at the time of the attack. He had been previously arrested in 2008 for a weapon violation in Burbank.

Police said Hill took the machete when he fled in his 1996 blue Toyota RAV 4 with license plate number 5YTC423. Anyone with information about the attack should contact LAPD West Valley Division at (818) 374-7730.

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Police standoff ends with porn actor's deadly fall

LOS ANGELES — Surrounded by a SWAT team on a rocky cliff, a porn actor suspected of killing a colleague last week moved to the edge of the outcropping and fell some 40 feet to his death, ending a dramatic, daylong standoff with police outside Los Angeles.

Video of the apparent suicide captured by news cameras Saturday shows Stephen Clancy Hill in Chatsworth, talking to police negotiators. With a crowd of media and officers watching, Hill tumbled down the hillside after scooting to the ledge from a seated position.

Police said Hill had repeatedly threatened suicide in the hours leading up to the fall, which came a day after murder and attempted murder charges had been filed against the 34-year-old porn actor.

"He was bent on taking his own life," Deputy Chief Kirk Albanese said. "It's very unfortunate. We wanted this to end a different way."

Waiting paramedics rushed Hill to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead from injuries suffered in the fall.

Police say a "less than lethal munition" was used against Hill as they tried to apprehend him just before he apparently took his life.

It was unclear whether the projectile that officers fired had struck Hill or missed.

Albanese declined to discuss details of the weapon police used, citing an ongoing internal investigation that is launched after every serious use of force by officers.

SWAT officers had spent part of Saturday afternoon trying to talk Hill down from the hillside as he clutched a sword.

It was unknown whether the sword was the weapon in Tuesday's deadly attack at a DVD production center that also left two people injured.

Hill fled to the Chatsworth neighborhood hillside after leaving a house where he was barricaded for most of Saturday.

Charges in the attack had been filed against Hill Friday after Eric Jover, who runs the Ultima DVD production house, offered a $2,000 reward on the company's website for information leading to his arrest.

Authorities said Hill, whose professional name is Steve Driver, attacked a colleague with a sword that was used as a film prop. The rampage occurred during a social gathering at Ultima's studios about a week after being told he was being fired and that he would have to move out of the production facility, where he had been living, authorities said.

He then turned on two others who rushed to their co-worker's defense. One of those who attempted to help, Herbert Hin Wong, 30, was killed in the attack.

The Internet Adult Film Database lists 13 credits for Hill, including fetish films for Ultima and other companies.

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