| For Immediate Release December 17th, 2002 |
Contact: | Michelle Emard Media Relations Director (714) 347-8405 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell (714) 359-2239 Pager |
Orange County District Attorney Files Murder Charges Against Three Members of a Los Angeles Gang
SANTA ANA – October 4, 2002 – The Orange County District Attorney’s Office has filed murder charges with special circumstances allegations against three (3) members of the Pacoima Flats gang.
Armando Macias, 28, Alberto Martinez, 26, and Gerardo Lopez, 17, have been charged in the killing of 44-year-old David Peter Montemayor, a Compton business owner. Lopez, the juvenile, was charged directly as an adult.
The suspects drove to Buena Park from Los Angeles County on October 2, 2002. The suspects are charged with killing the victim with a firearm in a residential neighborhood near the victim’s Buena Park home.
The three murder suspects then led police on a high-speed chase that lasted 45-minutes through Buena Park, Anaheim, Orange and Santa Ana. These police departments and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) worked cooperatively to apprehend the suspects.
The murder charges were enhanced with a “special circumstances” designation because the murder is alleged to have been carried out to further the activities of a criminal street gang and was committed in the commission of a robbery.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Dan Wagner is assigned to the case.