Shooting Probe Leads to Drugs; 3 Are Arrested

Los Angeles police on Monday confiscated cocaine valued at more than $700,000 and arrested two men on suspicion of possessing narcotics, police said.

The arrests came during an investigation of the shooting Sunday night of a Chatsworth man. The investigation led to the arrest of another man on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.

Detective Joe Stanley said officers responding to a report of shooting behind an apartment in Canoga Park on Sunday evening found Stanley Kuha, 34, suffering from gunshot wounds to his buttocks.

Kuha, who was treated at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and released, directed officers to his apartment in the 9900 block of Owensmouth Avenue in Chatsworth, where they arrested William Tharp, 29, also of Chatsworth, on suspicion of attempted murder, Stanley said. Tharp was being held without bail at the West Valley Division.

Police said interviews with the suspects arrested Monday indicated that the gunman thought Kuha was a police informant and that the shooting was a failed murder-for-hire. Police would not say whether Kuha had been an informant.

About 2 a.m. Monday, investigators went to a room at the Canoga Park Motor Inn, where they found about 3 1/2 pounds of cocaine, $50,000 in cash and several guns, Stanley said.

Arrested at the scene were Tony Mazzamuto, 35, of Van Nuys and William Bonham, 25, of Arleta, Stanley said. Mazzamuto is being held in lieu of $255,000 bail at Van Nuys Jail, and Bonham is being held on $50,000 bail, he said.