Man Shot to Death at Market in Costa Mesa Is Identified

A man shot to death in a supermarket parking lot was identified Friday as Oscar Serrano Miramontes, 40, of Costa Mesa, police said.

A 21-year-old suspect, Salvador Beltran-Duarte of Santa Ana, was being held Friday in the city jail without bail, police investigator George Wilson said.

Beltran-Duarte was to be arraigned Tuesday, police said.

Investigators still did not know the motive in the shooting that occurred about 2 p.m. Thursday at the Stater Bros. market at 2180 Newport Blvd., Wilson said.

He would not say whether the victim knew his suspected killer.

A woman accompanying Miramontes watched the shooting helplessly and cried loudly next to his body as the gunman fled in a Volkswagen Golf, witnesses told police. An onlooker reported the getaway car’s license number, which allowed officers to spot and follow the attacker.

During the chase, the driver of the Volkswagen threw out a revolver at a gas station at Newport Boulevard and 19th Street, Wilson said.

A Santa Ana officer saw the car as it entered Santa Ana. Police forced it to the side of the road in the 1100 block of North English Street and arrested Beltran-Duarte, Wilson said.