3 Held in Deaths of Catering Truck Workers

Three men were arrested Tuesday in the slayings of five catering truck workers--including a 13-year-old boy--who were kidnaped in North Hollywood last year and executed, authorities said.

Police identified the suspects as Tony Rivera III, 32, of Los Angeles; Lawrence Aquinaga, 36, of Santa Maria and Edward M. Taffolla, 24, of Los Angeles. Investigators said, however, that no details of the arrests or the evidence linking the men to the killings would be released until after the district attorney’s office files charges later this week.

Lt. John Dunkin said all three men were being held without bail.

The bodies of the five catering truck workers were discovered near a guardrail in remote La Tuna Canyon, near Sunland, Dec. 10.

The victims were the truck’s owner, Ismael Cervantes, 43, of Sylmar; his son, Ismael Jr., 13; brothers Heriberto and Jesus Sandoval, 16 and 19 respectively, and Francisco Gasca, 31. All of them lived in North Hollywood.

They had been shot and stabbed and their hands were bound, investigators said. Two days before the bodies were discovered, their catering truck was found ransacked and abandoned in North Hollywood. It had last been seen Dec. 7 on Lankershim Boulevard.

The killings spread fear through the ranks of hundreds of catering truck operators. Many operators told reporters they would start to carry weapons to protect themselves. The murders also resulted in a series of meetings between police and operators to discuss safety measures and relations with police.

Jose Martinez, president of the Latin Catering Truck Assn., said he was pleased to hear that arrests had been made.

“It’s good news,” Martinez said. “I had no idea the police made any arrests.”

Martinez, who operates a catering truck in Pacoima, said he did not recognize the names of the suspects. The arrests did not entirely allay the fear he has felt since the murders, he said.

“I still want to know what happened, why they made trouble for them,” he said.

Times staff writer Tracey Kaplan contributed to this story.