Santa Ana : Man Faces Charges in Accomplice’s Death
A man who allegedly shot to death his accomplice during an unsuccessful robbery was arrested late Tuesday, police said Wednesday.
Maureen Thomas, a police public information officer, said Jesse Julio Beas, 18, has been charged with the death of Ronald Maalona, 23, of Santa Ana. Both men are suspected of attempting to rob a lunch wagon on the evening of Nov. 9 in the 800 block of Myrtle Street, but a scuffle broke out inside the wagon before they could take any money, police said.
As they fled on foot, Beas fired at a holdup victim who was chasing the suspects, but hit Maalona instead, police said. Witnesses reported that three or four men, including Beas, put Maalona in a car and fled.
Maalona’s body was found on railroad tracks behind an apartment complex on the 800 block of Camile Street.
Investigators arrested Beas without incident as he slept in his Santa Ana home on the 4500 block of Third Street, Thomas said. He is being held in the County Jail on $500,000 bail.
Thomas said police still have not identified the men who helped to put Maalona in the getaway car and have not recovered the murder weapon. The car has not been found.
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