D.A. Reviewing Fatal Shooting of Fugitive by Marshal’s Deputies

Prosecutors launched a full-scale review Friday of the shooting death of Robert Allen Heller, the first fugitive killed by Orange County marshal’s personnel in the agency’s 30-year history.

Heller, 38, was gunned down on a major thoroughfare in Buena Park on Thursday night after he confronted five deputy marshals attempting to arrest him on a drunk-driving warrant.

The deputies said they fired when Heller, a repeat felon, charged toward them and appeared to grab for something in his waistband, said Tori Richards, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office, which investigates all officer-involved shootings.

Authorities would not say whether Heller was armed. “We’re not going to discuss evidence in this case or the possibility there may have been a gun,” Richards said Friday.

All five deputies have been placed on administrative leave, as is routine after law enforcement officers are involved in a shooting. The deputies’ names were not released.

The incident happened at 7:40 p.m. just north of Beach Boulevard and La Mirada near the Buena Park Golf Center.

A bench warrant was issued for Heller on March 29 stemming from drunk-driving arrest in Orange in September. He pleaded guilty in late December but failed to pay his fine and never attended court-ordered counseling, court records show.

After an evening stakeout, the five deputies spotted Heller in the passenger seat of a car on Beach Boulevard and quickly stopped the vehicle, authorities said.

The deputies said Heller got out, acting erratically, then came toward them and appeared to grab something tucked near his waist, Richards said. The deputies fired. How many deputies discharged their weapons and the number of shots fired were not disclosed.

“I heard a pop pop pop,” said Nancy Musgrave, who was eating dinner in her nearby apartment when the shots began. “All I know is that I live in a good neighborhood and I don’t ever want to see this again.”

The male driver of the car and two female passengers were all handcuffed by the deputies and Buena Park police officers who responded to the shooting, but they were not arrested, authorities and witnesses said.

Heller was transported to the St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, where he was pronounced dead.

Richards said Heller has a extensive criminal record and was considered a violent, unpredictable felon. He has been in state prison four times after convictions on weapons and drug charges, auto theft and two drunk-driving charges. He was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving in September.

Heller has lived in Long Beach, Orange and Riverside County over the past three years, court and police records show.

The investigation of Heller’s death is being handled exclusively by the district attorney’s office. In 1998, there were nine fatal officer-involved shootings in Orange County, and four in 1997.

While violent confrontations are not rare for deputy marshals, this was the first fatal shooting since the agency was formed in 1968, said Capt. Steve Harding of the county marshal’s office. The agency is charged with serving criminal warrants, providing court security and assisting with evictions and repossessions.

Harding said it is not uncommon for five deputies to make an arrest, especially when the case involves a violent felon.

The marshal’s office will conduct its own internal investigation into the shooting once the district attorney’s office finishes its inquiry, Harding said.

Times staff writer Seema Mehta contributed to this report.