4-Hour Siege Ends With Murder Suspect’s Arrest

A man sought by Escondido police on suspicion of murder was arrested Thursday night in Covina after a four-hour siege involving a special weapons and tactics squad from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

It took Escondido homicide Detective Hal Espy more than 2 1/2 months to locate Mario Martinez Preza, and it took 20 members of the SWAT team to bring him out of an apartment at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.

Preza, 34, who counts Highland Street in San Diego as one of his addresses, was booked into the Vista jail on a murder charge and two counts of attempted murder, after being arrested in Covina, which is about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, said Escondido police Sgt. Dan Starr.

He is charged with the shooting death of John Albert Duvall, 35, who owned Duvall Janitorial Service, and with the attempted murder of two others who were at the slaying scene.

Duvall was shot at his residence in the 300 block of West 10th Avenue in Escondido on April 18. Duvall had taken over his father’s business. “His dad had a respectable business for many, many years here,” Starr said.

According to police, Duvall was shot because of an argument about a drug debt to Preza. Starr said Preza claimed he was owed $700, while Duvall maintained that the proper amount was $400. Starr said Preza was “a supplier of drugs” who dealt mainly in marijuana and methamphetamine.

Witnesses to the slaying identified Preza, police said.

Investigators said Preza moved around a lot. “Staying in one place for very long is not part of his lifestyle,” said Starr, who added that Preza has had several addresses in recent months.

Late Thursday afternoon, Espy and police officers from Escondido, Covina, and West Covina converged on an apartment complex in the 100 block of Vecino Street. After Preza refused to communicate with the officers, who threw a phone in to him, police called in the 20-member SWAT team, which apprehended him without trouble.

Preza’s son was put in the care of an uncle who lives nearby.