VAN NUYS : Man Charged Over Daylong Crime Spree

A Van Nuys man who was flushed from an apartment with tear gas lobbed by a Los Angeles Police Department SWAT team was charged Friday with the murder of an acquaintance during a daylong crime spree.

Hector Rodolfo Mejia, 36, faces five felony counts stemming from three Sunday incidents in Van Nuys. He pleaded not guilty to all charges Friday in Van Nuys Municipal Court and remains in county jail in lieu of $1.1 million bail.

Mejia, an unemployed laborer, is charged with killing Jose Napoleon Orellana, 29, at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday in the 6700 block of Havyenhurst Avenue. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said the two men got into a fight, Mejia pulled out a gun and started shooting.

Authorities said there may have been a lingering dispute over money, one that started several weeks earlier when the pair ate together at a restaurant and Mejia left without paying.

Just after midnight Sunday, Mejia allegedly abducted his estranged girlfriend from her Van Nuys apartment in the same block where Orellana was later shot. He is charged with forcing 37-year-old Natividad Romero into his pickup truck and driving her to a motel on Sepulveda Boulevard, where he allegedly beat her for two hours. He was charged with kidnaping, assault and spousal abuse.

Mejia is also charged with robbery for allegedly using a .38-caliber handgun to obtain $200 from Teresa Gomez, a woman who authorities said charged Mejia $75 a month to sleep on her couch. Authorities said the robbery occurred about 12 hours after Orellana was gunned down.