3 Plead Innocent in Shooting Death of Security Guard

Three Santa Ana men charged with the shooting death of a movie theater security guard in February pleaded innocent Friday to first-degree murder charges.

Jerry Lee Alonzo Jr., 19, Rafael Maldonado, 20, and Jessie Pena, 19, pleaded innocent in Orange County Municipal Court to murdering 23-year-old former Marine Dagoberto R. Carrero while he worked the night shift as a security guard at the Century City Centre Theatre in Orange.

Prosecutors alleged that Alonzo, angry over a dispute he had with Carrero at the theater a month earlier, returned on Feb. 19 and shot the unarmed security guard five times through a glass door, hitting him in the head and back.

Orange Police Lt. Timm Browne said Alonzo apparently watched as Carrero got involved in an argument with six teen-agers, who reportedly threatened the security guard after he asked them to leave the showing of a 7:15 p.m. film.

Alonzo, who pretended to side with Carrero in the argument, then left the theater, returned with a handgun, and shot Carrero, Browne said. The handgun was never recovered.

Initially, police sought the six teen-agers for the shooting. Then investigators received a tip that led to the arrest of Alonzo and two friends.

After the shooting, Alonzo allegedly phoned Maldonado and Pena to give him a ride from the crime scene. The two were charged with murder because they helped him.

The preliminary hearing for all three men was set for May 27.

Alonzo had no previous record.

Carrero, a native of Puerto Rico who flew helicopter missions in the Persian Gulf War, was shot on his last night on the job. He had been accepted into the Air National Guard, and was scheduled to fly to Texas the same week for a four-month training session, which he hoped would help pay for college.