Youth Slain in Alleged Try to Steal Car Parts

A youth was shot in the head and killed early Wednesday outside a Costa Mesa auto repair shop by a man who allegedly saw the youth and a companion trying to steal car parts, authorities said.

The man, whose name authorities refused to release, detained the second youth during the incident shortly after midnight, Costa Mesa police said.

It was the second shooting in two days of a youth suspected of car burglary in Orange County, where the number of auto thefts have increased dramatically over the last year, according to the FBI. In the first incident, a 16-year-old was critically wounded during a struggle early Monday with a Garden Grove police officer who was trying to arrest him.

Wednesday’s victim, believed to be a 15-year-old Costa Mesa youth, died at a Newport Beach hospital about 1:30 a.m., about an hour after he was wounded outside Holtz VW Repair shop, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Rick Johnson said Wednesday. The youth’s name was not released pending notification of relatives.

“It is unknown at this time if the subject was armed,” Police Sgt. George Yezbick said. “A search of his vehicle has not yet been made.”

Johnson would not release the name of the man who fired at the boys, saying that the Costa Mesa resident is considered a witness--one of only two--to the shooting. He did say the man, who is “about 30 years old,” was not a security guard at the repair shop located in the 700 block of West 20th Street.

The second witness, Johnson said, is the 16-year-old Costa Mesa youth detained by the man who fired the fatal shot. Police have arrested the youth on suspicion of auto theft. The youth, whose name was withheld because of his age, was booked into Orange County Juvenile Hall.

Johnson said an investigation was continuing into the shooting to determine whether any criminal charges should be filed against the unnamed man. He was not taken into custody because investigators feel sure he will not flee the area, Johnson said.

Call Received at 12:04

According to Costa Mesa police, officers received a 911 call at 12:04 a.m. from the man at Holtz VW Repair, reporting that he had just shot someone outside the shop, which is in a neighborhood of apartments and light industrial businesses.

The youths were in the process of “committing grand theft of Porsche wheels and tires from a vehicle in the parking lot of Holtz VW when the informant first saw them and attempted to make contact,” Johnson said.

“They hopped in a car, and that’s when he (the informant) made his contact with them and a shot was fired from the shotgun.”

Johnson said the youths were inside “their vehicle, a Volkswagen,” when the driver was fatally wounded in the head by the shotgun blast.

The manager of Holtz VW Repair, who would give his name only as Russ when contacted Wednesday about the incident, said the alleged thieves “didn’t get away with anything. In fact, he (the youth who was shot) left something here. His life.”

He said the man who fired at the two youths did not wish to identify himself or talk about the shooting.

Jamie Holt, the licensed owner of the repair shop, could not be reached for comment.

Car Break-Ins Reported

On Monday, a 16-year-old suspected car burglar was shot in the groin--possibly as he climbed a fence--in the backyard of a Garden Grove resident.

Residents of an apartment complex on Laguna Street called police about 2:30 a.m. reporting several car break-ins. Two officers were dispatched. One arrived before the other, police said, and confronted two youths suspected of breaking into the cars in an alley.

The suspects fled in different directions, and the officer, whose name police refused to release, chased one of them as he vaulted backyard fences in the neighborhood. Police said the officer stopped the youth, tried to arrest him and a struggle ensued. The youth was wounded in the yard of John Webb, 46, but fell over a six-foot wood fence into the adjacent patio of Hiep Tran, 23, according to Webb.

Both Garden Grove police and the Orange County district attorney’s office are investigating Monday’s shooting.

The wounded youth, a Garden Grove resident whose name has been withheld because of his age, was reported in critical but stable condition late Wednesday at UCI Medical Center in Orange, police said.