VAN NUYS : Murder Suspect Says He Was Trying to Protect Car

Shortly after he allegedly shot a teen-ager to death, Scott Howard Breverman led police to a 9-millimeter pistol and told officers he was trying to stop a group of youths who had damaged his BMW so that they could be forced to pay for repairs, according to court records filed Tuesday.

Breverman, 23, was arraigned Tuesday on a murder charge in San Fernando Municipal Court.

Defense attorney David Kenner said his client was home alone with his mother and “petrified that he and his mother were going to get killed,” by a band of teen-agers with bats and metal pipes.

But prosecutors said a murder charge was brought because Breverman’s primary interest at the time of the shooting seemed to be protecting his expensive car.

“Basically when a person is protecting his own life or the lives of others, there are certain rights of self-defense,” Deputy District Atty. John Asari said. “It’s different when an individual is protecting property and is simply shooting somebody who may have damaged property, rather than protecting someone’s life.”