2 Guards Arrested in Shooting Outside Pool Hall

Two pool-hall security guards were arrested after they shot at a man they believed was involved in an earlier shooting at the pool hall, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Friday.

No one was hurt in the shootings, but investigators believe the man the guards shot at was not involved in the gunplay, said sheriff’s Lt. Lynn Nehring.

The chain of events began about 2 a.m. Thursday at the Side Pocket pool hall, 8058 Lampson St., Nehring said.

“Apparently someone in the billiard parlor was shot at,” Nehring said, “and the security guards grabbed guns and shot at the victim’s car as it was leaving, apparently thinking it was the suspect vehicle.”

The motorist, whose name was not released, drove “down the street and called 911, reporting that somebody had just shot into his car,” the lieutenant said.

“There’s no indication that [the driver] was involved at all in the [first] shooting,” Nehring said, adding the security guards were later arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

They were identified as Anthony Passi, 31, and Keith Tague, 23.

Passi and Tague told deputies they shot at the car because they thought they saw muzzle flashes from inside the vehicle, sheriff’s Lt. Ron Wilkerson said.