Pier standoff shooters admit to murdering other gang members
DOWNTOWN LA — Two gang members who ignited a violent stand-off with police five years ago, during which five people were shot and 15 taken hostage on the Santa Monica Pier, were found guilty Monday of nearly 50 total charges for a crime spree that began two months prior to the Fourth of July shoot-out.
Jurors today are expected to hear arguments from both sides on whether Oswaldo Amezcua and Joseph Flores should be sentenced to death.
The five-hour standoff began after midnight on July 4, 2000, and ended in the morning dawn with the surrender of Amezcua, a convicted felon wanted in connection with five other slayings. Three Santa Monica police officers and two civilians were shot amid the violent impasse on the pier.
The jury had deliberated for five days prior to announcing the hour-long verdict at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.
Amezcua, 29, and Flores, 34, appeared unmoved by the guilty verdicts. The two men, bedecked in orange prison uniforms, talked to each other and their lawyers during the reading. Amezcua faced the jury, occasionally turning his head to stare at the audience while the verdict was read. Flores faced the judge.
Approximately 15 people came to hear the verdict, some of whom were law enforcement officials and members of the media.
KTTV was granted permission to film the verdict, after Deputy District Attorney Darren Levine made the case to Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert J.
Perry that witnesses didn’t want their faces on television or their names mentioned in the newspapers, in fear of reprisals from gang members.
Judge Perry allowed the verdict reading to be filmed, on the basis the witness portion of the proceedings had already passed, and because he felt the case had a significance to the public, since the defendants were apprehended on the Fourth of July, when the pier is typically bustling with visitors.
Amezcua and Flores have admitted to a string of murders and attempted murders directed at other gang members and police that spanned from their hometown of Baldwin Park to Victorville, Ontario, Fontana and Santa Monica. They openly told prosecutors Santa Monica Police were “very lucky” to escape the 2000 incident without fatalities.
Amezcua was found guilty of the attempted murder of the three officers and civilians he shot. The pair’s crime spree began in April of 2000 and included four counts of first-degree murder.
The jury found both men guilty of the April 11, 2000, murder of John Luis Diaz, the murder of Arturo Madrigal on May 25 of that year, and the June 19, 2000, double-murder of George Orlando Flores (no relation to the defendant) and Luis George Reyes.
In addition to the murder charges, Amezcua and Flores were found guilty of robbery, arson, false imprisonment and assault on a peace officer, part of which charges arose from the pier stand-off, which included the taking of hostages.
The shoot-out began shortly after Santa Monica Police received a phone call around 1 a.m. from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department telling them Flores was on the pier. Investigators had located Flores by placing a call to his pager and tracing the call.
Police arrived and managed to take Flores into custody after an altercation. Amezcua, however, ran into the nearby Playland Arcade. He attempted to exit the rear of the arcade, but encountered officers and opened fire, according to police. Amezcua then took 15 people hostage, finally releasing the last of the hostages and surrendering at 6:40 a.m.
The pier was closed to thousands of tourists and visitors throughout the day.
Both men were acquitted of a fifth murder, that of another gang member who was fatally shot on June 7, 2000 as he answered the door of his Victorville home.
Each of the Santa Monica officers shot during the stand-off have since recovered, according to Santa Monica Police Department Lt. Frank Fabrega. SMPD Officer Chris Coria was shot in the arm and Officer Steven Wong was shot in the leg. Sgt. Jim Hurt, also struck in the leg, has since moved on to the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. A 17-year-old civilian was shot in the leg, as was a 35-year-old female civilian.
The jury will begin sentencing deliberations once both sides have presented their cases.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 22, 2005. Read the original PDF.