Tagger’s Killer Faces Minor Gun Charges : Crime: Misdemeanor charges are filed against William Masters, who crashes announcement.

The city attorney’s office Thursday filed misdemeanor gun possession charges against William A. Masters II, the Sun Valley man who became an urban folk hero to admirers and a racist vigilante to critics when he shot a teen-age tagger to death under a freeway bridge in the San Fernando Valley.

The 35-year-old Masters--who earlier this month avoided felony prosecution when the district attorney’s office ruled that there was insufficient evidence against him--upstaged Thursday’s announcement by City Atty. James Hahn. He crashed the news conference that Hahn had called to announce his decision in the controversial case.

Afterward, Masters said he intends to continue carrying a gun “until all the criminals are locked in jail and there is no longer a threat to my life or any other citizen’s life.”

Also charged Thursday with vandalism and violating probation for a 1993 vandalism conviction was the surviving tagger, 20-year-old David I. Hillo, who was wounded in the buttocks when Masters opened fire on him and Cesar Arce shortly after 1 a.m. Jan. 31. City prosecutors said Hillo was on probation after his conviction Jan. 6, 1993, of spray-painting graffiti on the wall of a North Hollywood gas station.

Masters and Hillo are the only witnesses to the events that led to Arce’s death, but they gave conflicting statements to police. Masters said Arce and Hillo--who was carrying a screwdriver--tried to rob him and menaced him, and he opened fire as Arce advanced on him. As a result, the district attorney’s office decided that it could not lodge murder or other felony charges against Masters or Hillo.

Announcing the filing of lesser misdemeanor charges after weeks of public debate over justice, race and vigilantism, Hahn said all three men had broken the law that morning, setting off a “chain of events that ended in tragedy.” But each man faced different consequences.

Arce, who used the nickname “Insta” during his late-night tagging outings, died under the Hollywood Freeway after being shot in the back.

Masters, a sometime actor with a history of fighting laws against carrying weapons, faces up to 18 months in jail and fines of up to $2,000 if convicted of separate charges of carrying a concealed firearm and carrying a loaded firearm without a permit.

And Hillo, of North Hollywood, could face 178 days in jail for the previous vandalism conviction, as well as an additional six months in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the new vandalism charge.

The city prosecutor added that Masters has approached his office and the district attorney about getting back his gun, a $149, .380 semiautomatic pistol. The gun will be kept as evidence in the pending court case, Hahn said. If Masters is convicted, it will be destroyed.

Meanwhile, until Masters’ case is heard, there is nothing to legally prevent him from owning other guns, as long as he does not carry them concealed or loaded into public places, Hahn said.

Hillo is ordered to appear in Van Nuys Municipal Court on March 14, and Masters is ordered to appear there two days later.

Masters created a stir as he appeared in the doorway of an 18th-floor conference room at City Hall East. Hahn, who seemed shaken, asked staffers, “How did he get in here? Did anyone check to see if he was carrying a gun?”

Masters held an impromptu news conference by the 18th-floor elevators, quoting at length from an 1885 U.S. Supreme Court decision that he said made it the duty of every citizen to carry a gun to protect the public. He said he hoped to fight the charges but had only $35 in his checking account.

“This is your duty,” he said. “It is not a choice, this is your duty. Your duty is to carry a firearm and to protect the public security. This is your duty as a citizen of the United States, and as a citizen of this state. You are the reserve militia.”

Attorney Luis Carrillo said that he and several other members of the Mexican American Bar Assn. would represent Hillo and that he had advised his client not to talk to reporters.

Hahn “had to have charged Masters with the concealed weapon,” Carrillo said. “It’s unfortunate that he also charged David Hillo with vandalism, given that David Hillo was a victim, shot in the back.”

Times staff writer Nicholas Riccardi contributed to this story.