Slayings May Be Tied to Earlier Restaurant Attack

A robbery and shooting Aug. 7 outside a Pico-Union restaurant may have been a precursor to a shooting there two days later in which two people were killed, police said Thursday.

But police won’t know if there is a connection until they locate the two men who were attacked in the first incident, said Los Angeles Police Det. Jeff Breuer, who is investigating the Aug. 9 slaying of waitress Yesenia Rodriguez, 28, and customer Manuel DeJesus Rivas Carrillo, 24.

The victims of the Aug. 7 attack apparently left in a light blue van, Breuer said.

Three men were customers on Aug. 7 at the Flor Blanca restaurant at 8th and Alvarado streets, the scene of the subsequent double killing, he said. Soon after two of the men left the restaurant, “they were beat up in the parking lot, their keys were stolen and shots were fired,” Breuer said. The men were not struck by the bullets.

The bloodied victims returned to the restaurant, cleaned themselves up in the bathroom and left, the detective said. No one reported the attack at the time, Breuer said.

Two days later, two gunmen opened fire at each other inside the restaurant.

Despite a $25,000 reward offer for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the people who killed Rodriguez and Carrillo in front of dozens of diners and relatives, no tips have come in, the detective said.

Police said they first thought gang members had fired on the restaurant after having been kicked out; it now appears that one gang member went in gunning for a rival and that a shootout broke out between the two men.

Last Friday, police arrested Robert Martinez, 29, a customer in the restaurant who apparently was the initial target of the other, unidentified gunman.

Police said they think Martinez might have fatally shot Rodriguez as he fired back at the other man.

Anyone with information on the double slaying or the earlier robbery is asked to call detectives at (213) 207-2000 or (877) LAW-FULL.