VENTURA COUNTY NEWS : Suspect in Fatal Shooting Denies Guilt in New Case : Court: The gang member, formerly jailed in a 1998 slaying, was arrested Monday in a car break-in that resulted in the stabbing of its owner.

A Los Angeles gang member--one of two suspects in the fatal shooting last summer of a Santa Paula market owner--pleaded not guilty Wednesday to involvement in a vandalism case in which a man was stabbed this week.

Alfredo Hernandez, 21, is charged with receiving stolen property and vandalism, stemming from the Monday night incident in the 400 block of North 10th Street in Santa Paula, court records show.

Four of Hernandez’s friends, all members of a Santa Paula gang, are charged with the same crimes, court records show.

Guy Olvera and Jose Rivas, both 19, and Ruben Chavez, 20, also have pleaded not guilty. The fourth man, Ignacio Henry Castro Jr., 20, also pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, court records show.

Four of the men were being held in jail Wednesday night on $5,000 bail each. Castro was being held without bail for allegedly violating his probation in a drug case, authorities at the jail said.

According to Santa Paula Police Det. Daryl Koranda, the defendants were about to steal a $400 compact-disc stereo from a car when the car’s owner, Juan Alamillo of Santa Paula, ran toward them with a baseball bat.

Alamillo, 22, was playing baseball with friends at a nearby grade-school playground when he saw his 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass being broken into, Koranda said.

The defendants sped off in Hernandez’s car but were chased by Alamillo, the detective said. A few blocks away, the suspect’s vehicle collided with the victim’s car, Koranda said.

“The suspects exited their car, and then Castro stabbed [Alamillo] through the open driver’s side window,” Koranda said of the assault.

A bloody Alamillo ran from the scene, leaving his car, the detective said. He suffered stab wounds in his left arm and leg and was treated at a county hospital and released.

Before the vandals left the crime scene, they stole the victim’s car stereo and CDs and shattered his car windows, Koranda said.

The suspects were arrested minutes later at Palm and Main streets. Police tracked them down quickly after the victim provided a description of Hernandez’s car, Koranda said.

Alamillo also told police he knew his assailants, because he had attended classes with them at Santa Paula High School.

Inside the getaway car, officers found the stolen items, Koranda said. There are also an independent eyewitness and photos of footprints that match the soles of some of the suspects’ shoes, Koranda said.

In addition to the vandalism case, Hernandez was earlier accused of being one of two gunmen who killed 25-year-old Mirna Regollar on June 2, 1998, at Junior’s Market, which was owned by the victim and her husband.

Hernandez was arrested and jailed in that case in early April but released for a lack of evidence. Authorities say he remains a suspect, however.

Jose “Pepe” Castillo, also 21, was charged in the killing and is set to go to trial in January.

Police believe Hernandez and Castillo each fired a bullet into Regollar’s body, and authorities have said several eyewitnesses claim to have seen two men running from the killing at the market.

“Hernandez and Castillo are the only two suspects in the case,” Koranda said.