2 More Arrests Made in Shootout Death : Violence: Five suspected gang members are in custody and more arrests are possible in last week’s killing of teen.
Police continued a series of arrests Tuesday in connection with the slaying of a 15-year-old Santa Ana youth last week as he sat in his parents’ car.
Two more suspected gang members were arrested about 2 a.m. in a Garden Grove home on suspicion of participating in a shootout that killed Lazaro Omar Acosta Jr. when a stray bullet struck his chest, said Lt. Timm Browne.
Investigators have arrested a total of five people, and more arrests are possible, investigators said.
The shooting between rival gangs occurred Friday night in a convenience store parking lot on Lewis Street and Garden Grove Boulevard.
Armed with search warrants early Tuesday, Orange police searched a house in Garden Grove for weapons believed used in the shootout. In the house they found a handgun and arrested Tam Van Nguyen, 20, of Garden Grove and a 17-year-old juvenile. Both were arrested on suspicion of murder.
Over the weekend, police arrested Doi Ngoc Phung, 19, of Garden Grove and Phat Nguyen Cao, 18, of Riverside on suspicion of murder and took one juvenile into custody for a probation violation.
Arraignments for Phung, suspected of firing the fatal bullet, and Cao were postponed until today so that court officials could secure a Vietnamese translator.
On Tuesday, a steady stream of friends passed by the Acosta family’s clapboard home on Pomona Street, where the Acostas were finalizing plans for the youth’s funeral Mass this evening and burial on Thursday morning.
Lazaro Acosta, 36, a welder, recalled how his son’s fondness for basketball and playing his electric organ.
“I don’t know why this happened, but one has to accept these things,” Acosta said.
St. Callistus Catholic Church has begun a trust fund for the family. Donations can be sent to the Lazaro Acosta Jr. Fund, c/o the church, 12921 Lewis St., Garden Grove, 92640.
Times staff writer Mark I. Pinsky contributed to this report.
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