HUNTINGTON BEACH : Target of Shooting Unhurt; Suspect Held

A 23-year-old Huntington Beach man barely escaped injury after shots were fired at him, allegedly by the jilted suitor of his girlfriend, police said Tuesday.

Albert Mousa Mousa, 24, of Los Angeles was arrested Tuesday morning at a car dealership in Pasadena where he works as a mechanic. He was booked at Huntington Beach Jail on suspicion of attempted murder, Huntington Beach Police Lt. Ed McErlain said.

Mousa allegedly approached Daniel Raducanu shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday as Raducanu was about to enter his apartment on King Circle in Huntington Beach. According to Raducanu, the suspect walked toward him with one of his hands concealed beneath a towel, McErlain said.

The suspect then asked Raducanu, “Are you Dan?” When Raducanu said yes, the man raised his concealed hand, McErlain said.

Believing that the man was holding a weapon, Raducanu, an ex-Marine, knocked the suspect’s outstretched hand away, he told police. Raducanu was attempting to flee when several shots were fired at him, McErlain said.

The assailant sped off in a car, and Raducanu called police. Although he was uninjured, investigators found a bullet hole in the lower front of his sweat shirt, McErlain said.

The victim told authorities his attacker might have been a man who had apparently been rebuffed by Raducanu’s girlfriend. Police matched the suspect’s description with Mousa and arrested him without incident, McErlain said.

Mousa was being held in lieu of $250,000 bail, McErlain said.