Guard’s Action Backed in Big Boy Slaying

An off-duty Los Angeles police officer was acting responsibly when he shot and killed a robber in a Bob’s Big Boy restaurant in Canoga Park last November, according to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Stephen Sowders said investigators had determined that police officer Blaine P. Blackstone had reason to fear for his own life and the lives of patrons in the restaurant when he opened fire on 22-year-old William Navarro during a robbery attempt.

Blackstone was working at the restaurant as a security guard when Navarro entered with a gun and began robbing patrons, police said. At the time, police said Blackstone shot Navarro five times, while Navarro fired once. Navarro, who was on parole from a robbery conviction, died of multiple wounds to his right side, police said.

Sowders said the Special Investigations Division of the district attorney’s office officially closed its investigation of the case last week. The division routinely investigates officer-involved shootings.