Arrest Made in Girl’s Death : Crime: Alleged gang member who apparently was with Mary Irene Lewis, 16, the night she was stabbed to death is in custody. Victim’s family and friends express relief.

A teen-ager who apparently had been with 16-year-old Mary Irene Lewis of Huntington Beach the night she was stabbed to death on a sidewalk was arrested Thursday on suspicion of her murder.

Alan David Salomon, 19, who was arrested at his parents’ San Bernardino home, had met Lewis several days earlier and was among the group of friends she was with on June 20, police said.

That night, Lewis had telephoned her parents at 11 p.m. to say she was going to a restaurant with friends. Two hours later, a resident near the intersection of Brookhurst Way and Acacia Avenue in Garden Grove heard a car door slam and a girl shout. Five minutes later, a passing driver discovered Lewis bleeding to death. She had been stabbed 16 times.

Police believe the killer fled in Lewis’ car, a white Nissan Sentra. A week later, officials spotted the car in El Cajon in a “low-rent apartment complex that’s a common [gang] hangout,” El Cajon Police Sgt. Tom Gay said.

Police said the car had been stripped of some parts, including its wheels and fenders.

People questioned by police in El Cajon said they had seen Salomon selling the parts to people he knew, Police Sgt. Mike Handfield said. The buyers also told police that Salomon was the seller, he said.

“He was selling the parts to anyone who was willing to buy them, to friends down there and friends of friends,” Handfield said. “This all pointed to him as our guy.”

Several people also said they had seen Salomon driving a white Nissan hours after the stabbing, Handfield said.

Police, who served search warrants at homes in Orange, San Bernardino and San Diego counties, also recovered a knife that may have been the murder weapon, Garden Grove Police Capt. Dave Abrecht said.

Police said they believe that Lewis and Salomon had argued about her car. They would not elaborate.

“We believe we have a motive,” Abrecht said. “We’re trying to incorporate the motive with some of the evidence we have. The crime boils down to a senseless and unnecessary crime.”

Salomon, who is 5 feet, 4 inches and 115 pounds, also goes by the gang name Little Man, police said. Although he usually lives with his parents in San Bernardino, he sometimes stays with his aunt and uncle in their Westminster home, they said.

“He was staying there at the time of the murder,” Handfield said.

Police said they believe Salomon drove Lewis’ car to El Cajon because he has friends and relatives there.

Salomon has been convicted several times since he turned 18, twice for receiving stolen property and once for petty theft, Abrecht said. He also was convicted in February of driving in Westminster without a license, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Meanwhile, relatives and friends of Mary Lewis gathered Thursday evening and shared their relief that an arrest had been made.

“We’re all quite excited,” said Regina Lewis, Mary’s mother. “What’s important is that if, in fact, this is the person, then he’s off the streets now and he won’t do what he did to anyone else. But it doesn’t bring Mary back.”

Regina Lewis said that she called investigators to ask about the case Thursday and when they returned her call about 2 p.m., they told her the good news.

“I’m glad police have something to go on now,” she said.

Erica Castille, a close friend of Mary Lewis, said that Lewis had been seen with four gang members earlier that evening, among them someone who called himself “Little Man.”

“Little Man was one of the girls’ boyfriend,” she said.

Salomon was booked into Orange County Jail.

Michelle Hamelin, Mary Lewis’ best friend since elementary school, said: “I can’t tell you how happy I am. We’re very lucky to find some type of closure.”

Times staff writers David Reyes and Thao Hua contributed to this story.