BURBANK : Man Held in Slaying of Ex-Roommate

A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of shooting to death a former roommate as he waited for a ride to work, Burbank police said Thursday.

Armando Andrade Rodriguez, 22, of North Hollywood told police that he shot his former roommate Wednesday morning and led detectives to the stolen .45-caliber pistol used in the killing, Sgt. Scott Wilson said.

He has been booked on suspicion of murder and is being held without bail at the Los Angeles County Jail. Arraignment for Rodriguez is set today in Burbank Municipal Court.

Rodriguez and the victim, Carlos Alfredo Aguilar, 32, of Sun Valley had an ongoing dispute that police said centered on a broken relationship. Rodriguez apparently thought that his girlfriend broke up with him after being encouraged do so by Aguilar, police said.

“I was doing record checks and located a threatening phone call report where the ex-girlfriend said he (Rodriguez) made threatening phone calls,” Wilson said.

In the past, police said, Aguilar intervened between the couple and warned Rodriguez to stop making threats.

The two men and their girlfriends lived together for awhile in the 1700 block of Grismer Avenue, Wilson said.

Wednesday morning, Aguilar returned to his old neighborhood to catch a ride to work with two co-workers from Lavi Industries in Valencia, where he was a metal polisher.

Aguilar was having car problems recently and did not trust the vehicle to make the commute, Wilson said.

Rodriguez pulled up to Aguilar’s car, exchanged a few words with him, then shot Aguilar once in the upper torso, police said. Aguilar died soon afterward.