D.A. Confirms Shop’s Owner Fired Fatal Shot

The Orange County district attorney’s office confirmed the identity Friday of the man who shot a Costa Mesa youth during an alleged theft last week, and an attorney for the family of the dead youth later criticized the prosecutor’s office for delaying a decision on whether to charge him with a crime.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard M. King confirmed that it was Eric Vincent Holt, the owner of a Costa Mesa auto repair shop, who fired the fatal shotgun blast Oct. 29 but said no decision had been made on whether to prosecute him.

Holt’s identity had been disclosed at a news conference Wednesday by Amador L. Corona of Santa Ana, the attorney for the family of the dead youth, 15-year-old David Gallardo.

“All they’ve done is throw us a bone,” Corona said Friday.

The reluctance to identify Holt, owner of Holtz VW Repair, until Friday had also sparked criticism from relatives and friends of the slain youth. Holt has told police that he shot Gallardo unintentionally when Gallardo and a companion, Thomas Ramirez, 16, attempted to drive away.

Holt’s identity was not disclosed initially, King said, because of threats of violent retaliation that were received at Holt’s shop.

But Corona argued that any threats were proof that Holt’s identity was already known.

“I think it’s a completely fallacious statement that they would not release his name for fear of retaliation. I read into that that someone knew he was the shooter from day one,” Corona said.

Despite the threats, Holt was not given police protection, King said.

The delay in a decision on whether to prosecute Holt, King said, will allow investigators to identify any more possible witnesses and complete ballistics and laboratory tests.

“He can’t possibly attribute the delay to other witnesses,” Corona said. “We’ve told them we don’t believe there are any others.

“Here we’ve pushed them to release some information, and all they’ve done is throw us a bone.”

On Thursday, Corona said, he received a threatening letter calling him a “wetback scum.”

Corona said he will turn the letter over to the Santa Ana Police Department.

The attorney denied that any animosity exists between Holt and the Gallardo family. He said Holt had confronted Gallardo’s stepbrother and apologized for the shooting two days after the incident.

No weapons were found in Gallardo’s car, Corona said. Police said several lug nuts from a Porsche wheel--believed to be the only items taken in the alleged theft in which Gallardo was involved when Holt confronted him--were found in the car.

According to Russ Williams, the shop manager, Holt told him that he surprised Gallardo and Ramirez as they crouched near a Porsche attempting to loosen lug nuts on an expensive alloy wheel.