Fugitive’s Father Says Police Interview Was Pointless

The father of a 16-year-old boy suspected of shooting two deaf brothers, killing one and wounding the other, said Tuesday that he had met with police to discuss turning his son in, but that the meeting “was a waste of time.”

Joseph Bellinger, father of Joey Bellinger, who remains in hiding, said he met with detectives at the Devonshire Division of the Los Angeles Police Department late Monday.

“The meeting was pointless,” Bellinger said, declining to disclose details of the discussion. Police confirmed Tuesday that a meeting had taken place.

Bellinger, 40, said he was told that a representative of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office would be at the meeting to talk about the possibility of his son being tried as a juvenile. An attorney from the public defender’s office was present instead of a deputy district attorney, Bellinger said.

Joey Bellinger was charged last week with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder in the Jan. 28 shooting in Granada Hills of Cesar Vieira, 30, and his brother, Edward Vieira, 25, both of Palmdale. The older man died of chest wounds and the other was treated for hip and shoulder wounds.

Bellinger said police “indicated to me that there was no power on heaven or earth that will help my family or my son. I feel the meeting was a waste of time.”

Detective Michael Brandt said Bellinger indicated that he would not help police. “He says he doesn’t know where his son is and as far as we know he is not going to help us find him,” Brandt said.

Brandt would not discuss details of the meeting but said detectives arranged for a public defender to sit in. Detectives explained to the elder Bellinger that they could not negotiate how his son would be charged or tried.

He said the elder Bellinger has not been charged in connection with his failure to disclose his son’s whereabouts. Bellinger said the last time he talked to his son was last week, shortly after the shooting.

Police said Joey Bellinger was riding in a car with four friends, returning home from a Super Bowl party, when they drove up next to the Vieira brothers, who were riding a motorcycle, at Devonshire Street and Balboa Boulevard. Police said a brief confrontation flared between the occupants of the car and the two brothers. The two groups pulled into a nearby parking lot, where the confrontation ended in gunfire.

Police charged Bellinger after interviewing two teen-agers who were riding in the car with him.

Brandt said Tuesday that investigators have received dozens of calls from the public and are following up on leads to the younger Bellinger’s whereabouts.

“I think we’ll apprehend him soon,” Brandt said.