Teen-Agers Arrested in Suspected Gang Killing
Two teen-agers have been arrested in connection with a gang-related shooting last summer that left a Van Nuys youth dead, authorities said.
Juan Lagos and Ramon Lopez, both 18 and from Van Nuys, were scheduled for arraignment Monday in Van Nuys Municipal Court. They were charged with murder for the fatal shooting July 6 of Anthony Saiz, 17, said Detective James Vojtecky.
Gang rivalry was “the total sum of this whole damn killing,” Vojtecky said.
He said Lagos and Lopez initially drove by Saiz and some friends, and the two groups of youths flashed their gangs’ signs at each other. Lagos and Lopez then followed Saiz a few blocks away, got out of their car and ambushed him with a handgun, said Vojtecky, describing the shooting as “semi-driveby, semi-runby.”
The youth was found bleeding to death in the 6800 block of Woodman Avenue.
Vojtecky said investigators were led to Lagos and Lopez by tracking the aliases used by gang members until “one street name led to another one . . . and eventually” one suspect “was identified.”
Lopez was already in custody at Wayside Honor Ranch on drug-related charges when he was accused of killing Saiz, Vojtecky said. Both teen-agers are being held in Van Nuys Jail.
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