La Habra Police Question 2 Men in Fatal Beating

Two brothers picked up in an auto-theft investigation are being questioned in the beating death of a man at an auto-repair shop three weeks ago, an attack that also left two others critically wounded, police said Thursday.

About 40 officers from La Habra police, the Orange County Auto Theft Task Force and the Immigration and Naturalization Service raided a pair of homes in Fullerton and Anaheim early Tuesday, La Habra Police Capt. John Rees said.

The officers detained Ramon Inzunza, 41, of Anaheim and Rogelio Inzunza, 47, of Fullerton, Rees said. He said investigators believe there is a connection between the Inzunzas and the Jan. 3 beatings at Dr. Don’s Automotive, 621 W. Whittier Blvd.

The business owner, Don Gilchrist, 41, of Bellflower, died of his injuries after four days at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Cornelius Postma, 41, and David Mendoza, 26, both of La Habra, remain hospitalized.

The three were found in a back room of the auto shop by an employee of a neighboring business and were so badly beaten that police were initially unable to tell if they had also been shot, authorities said.

The INS detained the Inzunzas, who are convicted felons who were deported and reentered the United States illegally, Rees said. Both men have extensive criminal records that include drug and robbery charges.

Neither has been charged in the homicide or the beatings, though. Investigators are looking for a third man who they also believe was involved, Rees said.

After following leads and getting information from friends of the victims, investigators “focused on a certain theory” regarding a motive for the attack, Rees said.

“As best we can determine, these two fit the bill,” he said of the Inzunza brothers. “The task for us is to prove it.”