Police Name Suspect in Slaying at Restaurant

Homicide investigators Wednesday released the name and photograph of a 20-year-old gang member who Oxnard police say shot to death a father of two in a restaurant parking lot Sunday night.

Armando Rivas Balderama, arrested two years ago for allegedly shooting at rival gang members, is wanted in the slaying of Roberto Calderon Leyva, 35. Leyva was shot outside Toppers Pizza Place as his wife and two small children watched, police said.

Investigators Wednesday persuaded Judge Ken W. Riley to sign a warrant for Balderama’s arrest.

But police refused to discuss the search or any other details of the case because the judge ordered that the evidence investigators cited in applying for the warrant be sealed.

“As a result of this court order, the Oxnard Police Department will issue no further statements at this time,” spokesman David Keith said in a news release Wednesday.

Balderama, who lives in the Lemonwood neighborhood of south Oxnard, is accused of shooting Leyva moments after the two men exchanged words inside the restaurant. A bullet pierced a major artery in Leyva’s stomach and he died about 10 hours later.

Witnesses and police said Balderama became upset when Leyva apparently looked at Veronica Balderama, the suspect’s 23-year-old sister, who was dining at the pizza parlor Sunday with her brother and several friends.

The suspect and his sister drove away in a charcoal-gray pickup truck that was later found on El Dorado Avenue in Lemonwood, the street listed as Balderama’s address on an arrest report from two years ago.

After a short foot chase Sunday night, Veronica Balderama was arrested on suspicion of aiding a fugitive. But her brother has eluded police.

She was released from custody Monday after promising to appear Friday in Ventura County Municipal Court for arraignment, a jail official said Wednesday.

Armando Balderama was arrested in August, 1992, on a charge of shooting at an occupied vehicle, according to court records.

Balderama and several friends were standing at San Benito Street and Tulare Place in the Lemonwood area on June 7, 1992, when a carload of men from La Colonia drove by, court records said.

According to court papers, someone from Balderama’s group yelled “Lemonwood” and then someone inside the passing car yelled back “Colonia.” Balderama then shot three times at the vehicle, striking its rear but injuring no one, court papers said.

Balderama pleaded not guilty to three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle. He was bound over for prosecution in Ventura County Superior Court, but the case was dismissed in December, 1992, after the victims refused to identify Balderama as the shooter, court records said.

According to transcripts from the 1992 preliminary hearing, Balderama is a member of the Lemonwood-area street gang known as “Chiques.” The occupants of the car were identified as Colonia-area gang members.

On Wednesday, friends and relatives of Leyva continued visitation and memorial services at Garcia Mortuary in Oxnard.

“I just hope that he gets what he deserves for killing my brother,” said Esperanza Gonzalez, one of Leyva’s seven sisters. “All we want is justice.”

A friend of the family who did not want to be named broke down in tears Wednesday outside the mortuary when he was shown a photograph of the suspected killer.

He said Balderama is the son of one of his good friends.