Security Chief for Apartment Complex Slain

The security chief for a crime-plagued Northridge apartment complex was fatally gunned down Thursday as he left a night class at Reseda High School in what police believe was an ambush in retaliation for his efforts to fight neighborhood drug dealing and gang trouble.

Pedro Banegas was slain, police said in a written statement, because he “aggressively battled the influence of narcotics dealers and gang members . . . and was greatly responsible for major strides to clean up crime problems” at the sprawling Park Parthenia Apartments.

Banegas, 42, was well-known in the 466-unit, low-rent complex, which has been notorious for rampant drug dealing and other crimes. He was despised by gang members, because “he messes with them and evicts them,” said Los Angeles Police Det. Rick Swanston.

Police have not yet identified a suspect, Swanston said Friday. But “at this point, we are operating under the assumption that he made enemies within the gang that operates around that Park Parthenia complex.”

A Honduran immigrant and the father of two children, Banegas had served as a block captain in the LAPD’s Neighborhood Watch program for the last three years, and was characterized by police officers as an honest and forthright man who worked hard to root out the criminal element in the complex where he worked and lived.

But some apartment dwellers painted a different picture Friday, describing a man who was called “Don Pedro” by residents who feared him because of what they characterized as ruthless and arbitrary enforcement of the rules.

“He was no goody two-shoes,” said Beatrice Aviles. “He was overly aggressive . . . mean with everyone, even the little kids. He’d tell them to go inside; he wouldn’t let them play on the street.”

Banegas was shot to death as he left his English class at Reseda High, accompanied by his wife, Ana, who wasn’t harmed. A witness told police the gunman crept alongside cars parked on the street north of the school, then approached Banegas as he got into his pickup truck.

The gunman fired one shot through the driver’s side window, which hit Banegas in the shoulder, police said. Banegas and his wife fled the truck and tried to run away, but the gunman caught up with them and fired several more shots into Banegas’ back and chest, authorities said.

He was pronounced dead at Northridge Hospital Medical Center shortly after 9 p.m.

Some friends and neighbors said Banegas was proud of his crime-fighting efforts and seemed to downplay the dangers.

“I would tell him, ‘Pedro, you should be careful,’ ” said his night school teacher, Donna Kihara. “He said, ‘If somebody doesn’t do it, who will?’ Mainly he wanted his community to be safe. . . . He set a good example for everyone.”

Police said his life had been threatened several times, but Banegas refused to formally report all but one of those threats. He did, however, file a battery complaint Tuesday with police, alleging that he had been pushed by a juvenile he had caught vandalizing the complex. In January, he found some narcotics and turned them over to police, according to LAPD records.

For years, police and neighborhood groups have tried to crack down on crime and drug problems at the complex. Then last year, some residents began to complain about overly aggressive security guards.

On Friday, some complex residents said Banegas was among those guards who invited trouble with his tough-guy approach.

Because many of her neighbors are in the United States illegally, they did not complain, Aviles said. But others did, and in December there was a management shake-up and three security guards were fired, she said.

The complex managers and owners were not available Friday to comment on those assertions.

But Jonathan Bates, a security guard who worked with him at the complex, denied that Banegas was overly aggressive and said he only tried to “keep the peace” with resident gang members. “Ninety percent of the people here loved the guy, but there’s 10% that didn’t,” he said.

Times staff writers Sandy Banks, Beth Shuster and Martha L. Willman contributed to this story.