Murder Charged in Shooting of Alleged Thief : Arraignment: Apartment manager pleads not guilty in the killing of a man who, police say, was trying to steal a car.

A Toluca Lake apartment manager was charged with murder Monday for allegedly shooting and killing a suspected thief who was running away after attempting to steal a car last week.

Daniel McDonald, 45, who was arrested after the shooting last Thursday on suspicion of killing Henry Lemus, 40, of Hollywood, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Van Nuys Municipal Court.

Judge Leland Harris ordered McDonald held on $1.275-million bail and scheduled a pretrial hearing for Dec. 20.

McDonald’s relatives said they were stunned by the charge. All McDonald was trying to do was protect his son, Mark, who had brawled with one of two suspected car thieves, they said.

“If it’s your child, what would you do?” asked Karen Stephens, McDonald’s sister. “This man has never done anything wrong in his life.”

The slaying occurred after McDonald and his son apparently caught Lemus and an accomplice breaking into a car parked outside the apartment building that the McDonalds manage in the 10600 block of Moorpark Street, police said.

One of the suspected car thieves fought with Mark McDonald, inflicting minor wounds with a screwdriver.

But police said that Daniel McDonald was unaware of the assault on his son when he chased after the two men as they fled, firing an estimated seven shots at them. They then escaped in a waiting vehicle, but about an hour later, Lemus was dropped off at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, where he subsequently died.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen said that among the factors that influenced prosecutors to bring the murder charge were that Lemus apparently was running away when he was shot and that there were many shots fired from McDonald’s 9-millimeter pistol.

McDonald’s relatives, including his wife, Judy, said they believed someone was shooting back at Daniel McDonald and that his case should be considered self-defense. McDonald, who they said suffers from an acute pancreatic disease, has never been in trouble before with the law, they said.

McDonald’s lawyer, Brian J. Smith, declined to comment extensively, saying he had yet to study some of the details of the case.

“There’s a lot more that will be brought out later on,” Smith said.

Authorities said the case remains under investigation.

They said the man suspected of being with Lemus the night of the shooting, Pablo Burgos, 20, of Los Angeles, was arrested Saturday--after he voluntarily appeared to discuss the case with detectives--and charged with attempted auto theft and auto burglary. Two other unknown people who apparently were in the getaway car remained at large, they said.

LAPD Detective Gil Uribe said Burgos was not hit by gunfire, as was previously suspected based on the accounts of neighbors who said they saw the shooting.

The case against McDonald was strengthened by Burgos’ version of what happened, even though in telling police of his role, Burgos provided evidence against himself as well, Uribe said.

The marked the second time this year that a San Fernando Valley resident has shot and killed someone over a street crime. In January, Sun Valley resident William Masters fatally shot Cesar Arce, an 18-year-old graffiti vandal who Masters claimed had tried to rob him.

That shooting touched off a national debate on crime and self-defense. While police have received calls of sympathy in support of McDonald, the response has fallen far short of the public outcry voiced on behalf of Masters.