Police Arrest Man in Robbery, Slaying at Teller Machine

An 18-year-old Compton man with suspected gang ties was arrested early Tuesday on suspicion of robbery and murder in the shooting death of a Jewish community leader at an automated teller machine four months ago, and police said they are searching for more suspects in the case.

Los Angeles police detectives arrested Nicholas James Williams at his parents’ home about 7:20 a.m., according to Lt. Ross Moen of the Pacific Division.

He is being held in connection with the Aug. 22 slaying of Jerry Weber, 49, of Encino, an official of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. Weber was gunned down after withdrawing $40 from an automated teller machine on Sepulveda Boulevard in West Los Angeles.

Williams’ arrest came during a police sweep that involved 55 officers. Search warrants were served on nine locations in Long Beach, Compton, Inglewood and Southwest Los Angeles, Moen said. He called the sweep part of a search for evidence.

“It’s standard when serving search warrants to send five to six people to each location,” Moen said. “That way you can secure the place and provide for the safety of the people in the house.”

Police confiscated several guns from various locations, but Moen said they will not know whether the weapon used to kill Weber was among them until ballistics tests are conducted.

Williams is being held without bail pending his arraignment, scheduled for Wednesday in West Los Angeles Municipal Court. Prosecutors say they intend to file a charge of murder with special circumstances against him, which could lead to the death penalty if he is convicted. Moen described Williams as the prime suspect in the case. He declined to release Williams’ address or any other details about the Compton man. He confirmed, however, that police are seeking three or four other suspects in the murder.

A district attorney’s spokesman said Williams apparently had gang ties, but he would provide no details.

“We believe that Williams is either a current gang member or has been associated with a gang in the past,” said Mike Duarte, a deputy district attorney in the Hardcore Anti-Gang Prosecution Unit. “There are indications that he did have associations with gang members when the crime occurred.”

Weber, who was director of the federation’s Council on Jewish Life, a group that brings together various elements of Los Angeles County’s Jewish community, was killed shortly after midnight on Aug. 22 after withdrawing $40 from a Wells Fargo banking machine in the 3100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard. Police said he was confronted by two men as he stepped back into his car. One of them reportedly fired several times as Weber pleaded, “Don’t shoot,” and his wife looked on in horror from the passenger seat.

Weber, the father of two teen-age daughters, died shortly afterward at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

Police said robbery was the motive for the shooting.