Police Dragnet Fails to Turn Up Slaying Suspects : Crime: Search of 14 homes does yield small arsenal of firearms. Dragon Family gang is rousted for information on alleged slayers of UCI student.

In a countywide blitz aimed at finding the weapon used in the fatal shooting of a UC Irvine engineering student, police uncovered an assortment of guns in a search of 14 homes but failed to locate four teen-age gang members wanted in connection with the slaying, authorities said Friday.

Police searched homes in Garden Grove, Westminster and Santa Ana Thursday after obtaining information that members of the Dragon Family gang had been involved in the Aug. 17 slaying of Robert Sapinoso, 19.

A bashful computer whiz known as “Zap” for his lightning-fast typing, Sapinoso was gunned down in his car on a Garden Grove street while writing down the license number of a minivan that he believed had been the getaway vehicle in a neighborhood burglary.

A resident of Westminster, Sapinoso was hit several times in the upper body, then driven by a friend to a nearby hospital without emergency facilities. He died before paramedics arrived.

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Police launched the search between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. Thursday, hoping to find Dragon Family members who participated in or had knowledge of the slaying. The gang members were believed to have been hiding out in the homes, investigators said.

The search uncovered a rifle, two shotguns and five handguns. Police know a handgun was used in the murder and they are awaiting the outcome of ballistics tests to determine if they have located the murder weapon, Morrill said, adding that “miscellaneous gang paraphernalia” also was seized.

The four suspects still at large have been “identified as members of the Dragon Family, and it is very common for members of a gang to hide other members,” said Sgt. Douglas Morrill, spokesman for the Garden Grove Police Department.

Police have refused to divulge the identity of the four suspects.

Although the whereabouts of the suspects remain a mystery, the search produced two witnesses who provided extensive statements, Morrill said. He declined to discuss the content of those statements. Police made two arrests unrelated to the slaying, one for warrant and probation violations, the other for possession of a stolen cellular phone.

Based in Garden Grove and Westminster, the Dragon Family gang is made up of males and females between the ages of 14 and 19. During the search, many of the gang members’ families were shocked to learn that their children belonged to such a group, Morrill said.

“A lot of parents were trying to tell us their sons or daughters weren’t part of the gang,” he said, noting that police brought pictures showing the youths with known gang members or flashing signs unique to the Dragon Family. “It was a rude awakening for some of those parents,” Morrill said.

Immediately after the slaying, six Dragon Family gang members fled to Boston, where police arrested two on suspicion of murdering Sapinoso and attempted murder of a 20-year-old Cypress College student, who was riding in Sapinoso’s car when the shooting occurred.

Sapinoso’s friend, who has asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, escaped injury. He later told police that the two had jotted down all but one digit of the license plate number and were stopped at a traffic light when someone in the van got out, walked to Sapinoso’s car and opened fire.

The friend said he averted being killed by huddling on the floor of Sapinoso’s car amid a thunder of gunfire and splintering glass. Sapinoso doubled over, too, but was blocked by the steering wheel.

After a 10-minute, high-speed chase in Boston Aug. 25, 18-year-old Vinh Quoc Ta of Santa Ana and 17-year-old Hoa (Tommy) Le of Orange were arrested. Investigators allege they were riding in the van used in the killing.

Garden Grove Police “know who fired the shot but won’t be releasing that information until the investigation is complete and we’ve talked to all the witnesses,” Morrill said.

Ta has been charged with murder and with “lying in wait,” a special circumstance that makes him eligible for the death penalty. He also was charged with the attempted murder of the Cypress College student.

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On Sept. 21, with his mother weeping beside him and using a handkerchief to shield her face from the glare of television cameras, Le was ordered to stand trial as an adult for the murder of Sapinoso and for the attempted murder of Sapinoso’s friend.

In reaching his decision, Juvenile Court Judge Frank F. Fasel said Le and Ta had been “armed with firearms to the teeth” and hunting for rival gang members when Sapinoso was slain.

Le also has been charged with lying in wait but, because he is a minor, is not eligible for the death penalty.