Garden Grove Man, 2 Others Held in Slaying of Armored Car Driver

A Garden Grove man and two others were booked on suspicion of the Feb. 18 slaying of an armored car driver from Barstow on Wednesday night after the men were arrested in Westminster for allegedly carrying concealed weapons.

Detective William Bethke of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said Henry Lopez, 37, of Garden Grove; Lashman Johal, 39, of Los Angeles, and Ricardo Gutierrez, 32, of Azusa were taken into custody after Westminster police arrested them earlier in the day.

The three men entered a Westminster auto business at midday, police said, but their behavior aroused suspicion leading an employee to dial 911. When Westminster officers responded, the three men fled but were captured a few blocks away.

Bethke said Westminster police, in conducting interviews at nearby businesses about the suspects, learned that the men may have been waiting for an armored car from Valley Armored Transport to make a money pickup at the adjacent vending machine business.

Police then contacted an investigator at Valley Armored Transport, who in turn contacted the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, which has been investigating the death of Valley Armored’s driver, Gerard Gauthier, 55.

“The handgun they were carrying is a unique brand and caliber, and it matches the description of the gun used in Gauthier’s murder,” Bethke said Wednesday. “So we went down to Westminster and transferred them to San Bernardino,” where the three men were being held without bail, he added.

Gauthier’s body was discovered with multiple gunshot wounds on Feb. 18 along the on-ramp of Interstate 15 in Barstow. He had been robbed and slain after making a cash pickup at a convenience store on Afton Road near Barstow.