By CAROLYN SACKARIASON AND ROBERT FATURECHI Daily Press Staff Writers
LINCOLN BLVD. — A couple of diehard golfers, set on getting out to the links early Thursday, found themselves embroiled in a homicide investigation after killing a man who tried to rob them at gun-point, police said.
At about 4:45 a.m., the victims — one from Inglewood and the other from Venice — had stopped at the drive-thru at Jack in the Box, 2025 Lincoln Blvd., before heading to a San Fernando Valley golf course, said Santa Monica Police Chief James T. Butts Jr.
When they got to the drive-thru window, a man in a hooded sweat-shirt and a black ski mask approached their commercial plumbing van, pointed a semiautomatic pistol at the passenger’s head through an open window and demanded money, police said.
The passenger grabbed the suspect’s hand and a struggle ensued. During the tussle, the suspect, with his free hand, grabbed a kitchen knife in his pocket and stabbed the passenger, resulting in a minor laceration. That’s when the driver reached behind his car seat, grabbed his own gun and fired several shots at the suspect, Butts said.
The suspect staggered a few feet before falling down in the alley behind a fishing tackle store at 2817 Lincoln Blvd. He was shot in the chest and was pronounced dead at the scene by responding police officers and paramedics. His body lie in the alley for more than an hour before the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office transported him to the morgue.
A bullet hole about an inch in diameter could be seen Thursday in the fishing tackle store’s exterior wall, just a few feet from the drive-thru.
Preliminary investigation reveals that the shooting was a justifiable homicide, although the case will be forwarded to the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office for further review once SMPD detectives finish their work, which could take up to five days. The DA’s office also will determine if it will charge the victim for carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle, which is a misdemeanor.
“We want to make sure this is a thorough and complete investigation,” Butts said. “We want to make sure it’s not a murder disguised as a justifiable homicide.”
Both victims cooperated and were released on Thursday, Butts said. The SMPD’s investigators will determine if the victim was carrying the gun legally.
The suspect, whose identity is not yet known, was described as a white male in his mid to late 20s. The SMPD is checking with the Department of Justice to determine if the suspect had a criminal record.
Butts estimated that the incident lasted about 30 seconds. A Jack In the Box employee heard the suspect demand money over the drive-thru speaker but didn’t witness the shooting. Jack In the Box employees wouldn’t comment.
It doesn’t appear there were any witnesses except for the victims. However, many nearby residents heard the shots and screaming.
“I heard shouting before the shots and after, but in this neighborhood that’s not completely unusual,” said Les Wright, a lawyer who lives in an apartment across the street from Jack In the Box. “It was loud. I think I’ve heard shots before and it’s just popping, but this was loud.”
Several neighbors were awakened by the shots, most of whom said there were between four and seven rounds fired.
“I was sound asleep and I heard rapid gunfire... I found it very powerful,” said Richard Chase, who lives across Lincoln Boulevard on Grant Street, adding he immediately called 9-1-1. “In a strange way, I’m glad it wasn’t the guy who was innocent serving food... I hate to say it, but anyone who goes up to rob you with a knife deserves it.”
The shooting occurred several feet away from the Rest Haven Motel, startling several guests who were asleep in their rooms.
Janet Lastimoso, the motel’s manager, said police began knocking on guests’ doors at about 5:20 a.m., asking them if they had witnessed anything.
“They just wanted to know if anybody saw exactly what happened, but most people were sleeping,” Lastimoso said. “I saw the body lying there but I didn’t go close and see the face.”
Police officers sealed off half of the block between Pacific and Grant streets. Detectives worked the scene for hours, clearing out at 12:30 p.m. Jack In the Box also re-opened for business on Thursday.
Some residents said the area is not known to be one of the safest in the city, especially because Lincoln Boulevard serves as a major thoroughfare and is frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers.“(The shooting) made me feel like I was just waiting. I feel so unsafe and vulnerable here,” said a woman who only gave her first name, Eileen, and lives in a house next to the fast food restaurant. “To me, I knew it was coming one day. I did-n’t feel surprised at all.
“Santa Monica is not what it used to be, since the meth and the heroin took over.”
“Santa Monica is not what it used to be, since the meth and the heroin took over.” — SHAE WILEY Neighbor
Shae Wiley, a young woman who lives next to Jack In the Box, didn’t appear fazed either.
“People think stuff can’t happen around here, but it can.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 22, 2005. Read the original PDF.