Violence in Coffeehouses Giving Some the Jitters : Crime: Spate of shootings prompts the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce, city officials to ponder the link between java, attacks.

Ngoc Nguyen’s refuge is a corner of the Bolsa Mini Mall, where stale cigarette smoke mixes with the fragrant steam of murky coffee and sweet, condensed milk.

He comes for the atmosphere at Ca Phe Luc Huyen Cam, an 11-year-old coffeehouse on Bolsa Avenue named for the six strings on a guitar: the Keno game on the television set, the muted click of Chinese Chess pieces and the iced black coffee served by a waitress who knows his order without asking.

Every day, he seeks the hazy warmth of one of the nearly 60 Little Saigon cafes scattered throughout northern Orange County. But now, mindful of the gunfire that has erupted in three Vietnamese coffeehouses and restaurants in Garden Grove and Westminster in the last nine days, Nguyen is becoming increasingly selective about his retreats.

“I think the problem is with young kids who grew up here,” said Nguyen, 34, a baker who usually caps off the night shift with iced coffee and a game of pool. “This never happens in the coffeehouses in Vietnam.”

The spate of violence, which has left two people dead, has so alarmed the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce that the group’s board of directors is scheduled to meet tonight to develop a peace strategy for the coffeehouses, a cultural institution transplanted from the streets of Saigon to the heart of Southern California’s Vietnamese community.

The business leaders will debate proposals to limit the night hours of coffeehouses or increase security with brighter lighting. City officials have also vowed to consider shortening the night hours of the coffeehouses, which in the past have been licensed without much controversy.

“We are concerned about (the violence) bringing down tourism,” said the chamber’s president, Co Pham. “I think it’s very important for the business leaders to work with the police departments and city officials of Westminster and Garden Grove to prevent this from happening again.”

Westminster police said the two shootings in their city came after more than a year free of violence in cafes. Police Chief James Cook said he does not believe crime in the area is on the rise.

“We really aren’t experiencing a lot more crime in the area, but when you have a homicide like this, the seriousness of the crimes draws attention,” Cook said. Patrols in the area, however, will be stepped up, he said.

Earlier this month, Pham moved his own medical offices out of a Bolsa Avenue strip mall next door to Pho Tien Cahn, a coffeehouse and restaurant where an off-duty security guard shot and killed one man and wounded another after he was attacked by a group of people in the crowded cafe.

Tuesday, Tu Anh Tran, 22, of Garden Grove was charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery in connection with that attack. Tran’s alleged accomplice died in that shooting, and state law allows him to be charged with murder when a “provocative act” results in deadly force and death. Tran is scheduled to be arraigned April 22.

The security guard, in plainclothes, was not charged because “there was no evidence of criminal activity,” Anderson said.

Police said a group of gang members, saying they wanted the guard’s handgun and mace canister, attacked him from behind with a tire iron and wooden sticks, knocking him to the floor as he tried to pay his bill.

Pham said the problems of a few coffeehouses are tainting the reputation of other restaurants in the area.

Some of the regular habitues of other coffeehouses are quick to defend their cafes, and even quicker to blame the violence on customers. They complain about young toughs, late hours and owners who have lost control.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Peter Hong, 32, staked a window seat at Ca Phe Luc Huyen Cam. Hong, a cafe regular for more than 10 years, said he has been spending more time there lately after losing his job as a computer programmer.

Everything “depends on the attitude of the owner,” Hong said. “Here they don’t provide the atmosphere for youngsters to come in and enjoy themselves. Here the customers are more mature, not as risky. At night, there is security here and it is very safe.”

But since the shootings, city officials are debating the link between java and guns.

“Until this violence, I never paid much attention to them,” mused Westminster Councilman Frank Fry Jr. “Someone comes in and says we want to serve coffee and no alcohol--fine, no problem. Who thinks about shoot-’em-ups with coffee?”

The coffeehouses--which generally feature menus heavy on caffeine and light on food--have bloomed in Westminster and Garden Grove since the mid-1970s. The three shootings have only confirmed fears about the coffeehouses, said Paul Tran, a writer and patron of coffeehouses.

On March 27, two men walked into Cafe Mozart on Westminster Boulevard in Westminster and opened fire. One person was killed and three others were wounded. No arrests have been made.

In Garden Grove, gang investigator Bruce Davis blamed the latest shooting, which occurred Monday night at the Cafe Truc Mai in the 10500 block of Westminster Avenue, on a spat involving a woman and two suitors.

The shooting left one person critically wounded and two others hospitalized. Police said three men with handguns ordered a customer to step outside. When he did, the shooting began.

“It was a case of too many boyfriends and not enough girlfriends,” Davis said.

Times staff writer Rene Lynch contributed to this report.