Guard Faces Murder Count in Shooting

The San Bernardino County district attorney’s office on Wednesday filed a murder charge against a security guard who fatally shot a Rancho Cucamonga man during a New Year’s night confrontation in an apartment complex parking lot.

Dameon Kashaum Wroe, 32, of West Covina had told San Bernardino County sheriff’s investigators that he fired only when the 19-year-old victim tried to run him over with a pickup truck. However, investigators determined the guard’s life was never in danger, said Joe Gaetano, the supervising deputy district attorney handling the case.

“Based on the totality of the physical evidence and witness statements, we felt [Wroe] had no right of self-defense,” Gaetano said. “He did not have reason to fear for his life.”

Wroe was patrolling the gated parking lot of the Sycamore Springs Apartments in the 7100 block of Archibald Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga when he noticed that Michael Krause Jr., 19, had driven his truck onto the lot without a parking permit.

Wroe confronted Krause and asked him to leave the premises, said Sgt. Gerrit Tesselaar of the Sheriff’s Department. Krause put the truck in reverse, striking Wroe with the driver’s side mirror of the truck. Wroe tried to detain Krause and summon the Sheriff’s Department, Tesselaar said. Wroe told investigators that Krause then tried to run him over.

Wroe fired his gun at Krause’s truck four times, striking Krause once in the chest. Krause was declared dead at the scene.

Wroe surrendered to authorities Wednesday morning and was jailed on $1-million bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned today in San Bernardino County Superior Court.

“He was very cooperative. He told us what had happened,” Tesselaar said. “[Wroe] feels absolutely terrible. It’s not as if this guy wanted to shoot Michael.”

Based on interviews with two witnesses in the apartment complex and a passenger in Krause’s truck and a determination of the trajectory of the bullets, investigators concluded that Krause had not moved his truck toward Wroe, Gaetano said.

Investigators concluded that Wroe overreacted to a minor trespassing violation, Gaetano said.

“A security guard has no more authority than any other person,” Gaetano said. “I don’t think someone who is trespassing should have a weapon pulled upon him or a weapon fired on him. The investigation showed [Krause] was going to leave the complex.”

The district attorney’s office has completed reviews of five shootings involving law enforcement officers in the county this year, declining to file a criminal charge against any of the officers.

“You can’t put a security guard and a police officer in the same ballpark,” Gaetano said. “A law enforcement officer has months of training, is sworn to protect the public and has the authority to chase someone down if necessary because he is obligated to investigate crimes. A security guard can conduct a citizen’s arrest, although [Wroe] did not do that, according to the investigation. His job is to patrol his area. And if he sees something criminal, he can call the sheriff.”