Man Arrested in Slaying of Grocer; Search for Gunman Continues

One man is in custody for the shooting death of a beloved South-Central grocer, police said Friday, but the search continues for the suspected gunman.

Pablo Hernandez, 31, was arrested Thursday in East Los Angeles and was booked for the murder of Chung-Bok Hong, 52, whom her customers affectionately called “Mama.”

Hong was killed Feb. 3 outside the 54th and Van Ness Market during an armed robbery. Her son was wounded in the leg.

Hernandez allegedly belongs to a small but active group of robbers who have preyed on Southern California merchants since late 1997, said Los Angeles Police Lt. John Dunkin. The suspect was the alleged driver during Hong’s murder.

Still at large is Juan Carlos Roman, 31, who witnesses said gunned down Hong as he stole a vinyl bag containing money she had just gotten from the bank. Witnesses said he kept pulling the trigger even after Hong lay wounded on the ground.

Customers of the market expressed relief upon hearing of Hernandez’s arrest Friday, but John Chan, Hong’s brother, said the arrest doesn’t mitigate the family’s grief.

“I just lost my sister,” said Chan, trying hard to hold back tears. “Everything is gone.”

Chan has been running the market since his sister’s death because Hong’s husband, Jong-Pyo Hong, cannot bear to go remain at the scene of his wife’s death.

“He just thinks about it [and asks] why,” Chan said. “He cries. I tell him that we have to forget. He just comes for a few minutes and goes home.”

People from the primarily black and Latino neighborhood were outraged by Hong’s slaying. The grocer sometimes permitted customers to buy on credit and was a motherly figure to some, telling them to take care of their illnesses whenever she heard them coughing.

Relying on detective work and interviews with witnesses, investigators were able to focus on Hernandez and Roman, Dunkin said.

Hernandez and Roman belong to a criminal group that is suspected of being behind a series of store robberies in which there has been at least one other homicide, Dunkin said. Some members of the group are in custody and other suspects are being investigated by several police agencies.

The group spies on merchants, studying their habits and routines, Dunkin said, and waiting for an opportune time to strike.

Investigators fear that Roman may have fled to Mexico, Dunkin said, and authorities in that country will be notified.