Teen to Face Trial as Adult in UCI Student’s Slaying : Courts: Judge cites concern that 17-year-old gang member captured in Boston might flee in ordering him held without bail in County Jail’s juvenile section.

With his mother weeping beside him, 17-year-old Hoa (Tommy) Le was ordered Wednesday by a Juvenile Court judge to be tried as an adult for the murder of a UCI engineering student.

In reaching his decision, Juvenile Court Judge Frank F. Fasel contended that Le and his companions on the day of the killing had been “armed with firearms to the teeth” and hunting for rival gang members when 19-year-old Robert Sapinoso was killed.

Calling Sapinoso “an innocent bystander,” Fasel ordered Le of Orange to be arraigned Monday in Orange County Municipal Court in Westminster and decided he should be held without bail in the juvenile section of Orange County Jail. The judge said there was sufficient concern that Le might flee, since Le was arrested in Boston eight days after the murder, along with a second suspect, 18-year-old Vinh Quoc Ta of Santa Ana.

Ta has been charged with Sapinoso’s murder and the attempted murder of Sapinoso’s friend. Prosecutors added the special circumstance of “laying in wait,” which would make him eligible for the death penalty.

Sapinoso, a bashful computer whiz nicknamed “Zap” for his lightning-fast typing, and his friend were at the friend’s house in Garden Grove on Aug. 17 when they saw a passing van they believed had been involved in neighborhood vandalism days earlier. They got into Sapinoso’s car to chase it and get the license plate number.

The two had jotted down all but one digit when someone in the van got out, walked to Sapinoso’s car at a stoplight and opened fire, killing Sapinoso.

Dennis McNerney, Le’s lawyer, said he had anticipated that his client would be tried as an adult for murder and attempted murder and did not argue against it.

“It’s a murder case, and all murder cases go up to adult court in Orange County,” McNerney said. “It is automatic.”

Fasel said he believed Le should be tried as an adult because of the seriousness of the crimes, the gang implications and because if Le is convicted, “adult court can provide a longer time in custody and maximum security” that would give Le a greater opportunity to be rehabilitated.