Local News in Brief : Huntington Beach : 2 Suspects Identified in Robbery-Murder
Authorities have identified two of three suspects in the handgun slaying last week of a 26-year-old man, and police now say the murder-robbery may have been set up by a family friend.
An arrest warrant for murder has been issued for Mario Antonio Duran, 21, of Los Angeles, Huntington Beach Police Sgt. William Van Cleve said. Duran’s 17-year-old brother, whose name was not released, is also being sought as a possible suspect, he said.
Luis Ramon Rios Martinez of Huntington Beach was killed by a single gunshot behind the ear Thursday morning after he pulled up to his residence in Moonshadow Circle on a motorcycle.
Martinez apparently surprised three gunmen who earlier had broken into his apartment after posing as deliverymen. The gunmen took $1,000 from Martinez’s pregnant wife, his mother and another woman who is a friend of his wife, police said.
The gunmen fled in a car parked at a nearby restaurant. Witnesses in the restaurant got the car license plate number, which police traced back to Duran.
Police showed a photograph of Duran to witnesses who identified him as one of the gunmen, Van Cleve said.
Van Cleve said police had found a family friend of the Martinezes from Nicaragua who “probably set up” the robbery.
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