Suspect in Popeye’s Slaying Held in Nebraska

The second suspect wanted for a September shooting at a Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits restaurant in Reseda has been arrested in Nebraska, Los Angeles police said Monday.

Detective Rick Swanston of the West Valley Division said Ivan Roldan, 20, was captured by police in Grand Island, Neb., on Saturday by officers who staked out a home reportedly owned by his mother.

Police had issued a felony murder warrant for Roldan’s arrest after a Sept. 9 shooting inside the Popeye’s, where 16-year-old Samuel Barrios was killed. Three other people were injured in the shooting.

Police arrested another suspect, Daniel Mejia, 22, days after the shooting.

Mejia and Roldan allegedly fired shots from a passing car at rival gang members inside the restaurant, Swanston said.

He said detectives tracked Roldan for three weeks before he was arrested in Nebraska.

“We called the Grand Island police and they started staking out the house,” Swanston said. “And lo and behold, he walked out.”

Swanston said Roldan was a known gang member in his hometown of Van Nuys.

A 16-year-old runaway who had been on the run with Roldan was also arrested with him Saturday. The girl, whose name was not released because of her age, was being held as an accessory to Barrios’ murder, Swanston said.

Swanston said the girl, allegedly Roldan’s girlfriend, was not with him at the time of the shooting.

Roldan is being held without bail in a Grand Island jail until later this week, when West Valley detectives expect him to be extradited to California.