Reward Offered in Slaying at Fast-Food Eatery

Relatives of a local businessman who was shot and killed when he stopped at a Los Angeles-area Jack in the Box announced Friday that a reward has been established for help in finding the three killers.

Laguna Hills resident Alan Peterson Sr., 62, was slain during what Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies are calling a “bungled carjacking” shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday in Carson.

Alan Peterson Jr. of Newport Beach said his father, whose company specialized in seismic retrofits on Southland freeways, had just finished inspecting a construction site when he went to the fast-food restaurant on Avalon Boulevard.

Sheriff’s spokesman George Ducoulombier said Peterson was shot in the upper body.

The killers fled in a 1991, four-door Oldsmobile Cutlass that had been carjacked earlier that day from Gardena, Ducoulombier said. The license plate number of the car is 2WPC393, and the suspects were described as black men in their 20s.

Peterson, who is survived by his wife and two grown children, was the co-founder of Irvine-based Peterson-Chase General Engineering Construction Inc., his son said.

The younger Peterson said the family already had several thousand dollars in pledges for the reward fund from people who knew his father. The family hopes to raise more than $25,000.

Alan Peterson Jr. said that he hopes his father’s death will help change attitudes about violence.

“At some point, the people must rise, and say, ‘Enough,’ ” he said. “We can’t tolerate it. We can’t tolerate any more sound bites.”

Peterson said his father enjoyed sportfishing, sailing, his work and his family.

“My dad was going to retire” at some point, he said Friday. “Unfortunately, it was yesterday.”

Donations can be sent to the Alan Peterson Sr. Reward Fund For Justice, 180 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach, CA, 92660. Information: (714) 721-8686.

Those with information about the crime should call the sheriff’s office at (213) 890-5500.