WESTMINSTER : Police Arrest 2 Men in Shooting Deaths

Westminster police have arrested two men in Riverside County in connection with two shooting deaths earlier this month, authorities said Monday.

Ignacio Arriola Tafoya, 33, of Mira Loma and Timothy Thomas Wynglarz, 32, of Moreno Valley were arrested without incident Friday on suspicion of murder, robbery and burglary, said Westminster Police Lt. Larry Woessner.

Tafoya was arrested at his home, and Wynglarz was found at a friend’s house.

Both men were sought in connection with the slayings of Jerry Lee Skillman, 35, and Steven Frances Rita, 28, who were each found with bullet wounds to the head on May 4 in a two-story house on the 6000 block of Bannock Road.

A witness, whom police would not identify, told investigators that he heard men arguing over property and then gunfire erupt. Investigators would not disclose the kind of property.

Westminster police spokesman Robin Kapp said investigators tracked the suspects through a license plate number scribbled by an officer who noticed two men sitting in a truck, watching police arrive at the scene of the shooting.

“One of the officers was talking to a witness when he noticed a vehicle that fit one of the descriptions. But it was a distance away and he wasn’t sure, so he wrote the license number down,” Kapp said.

Further information by witnesses led investigators to Riverside, where a truck fitting the description had been repossessed hours after the shooting.

Both suspects were booked at Orange County Jail and were awaiting arraignment. Bail has not been set yet, Kapp said.