Security Guard to Be Retried in Man’s Death

The San Bernardino County district attorney will pursue a voluntary manslaughter case against a security guard who was acquitted last month of second-degree murder in the death of a Rancho Cucamonga man, sources close to the case said Monday.

The jury that acquitted Dameon K. Wroe, 33, on Sept. 23 deadlocked on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter, voting 7 to 5 in favor of acquittal. A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge last week reduced Wroe’s bail to $125,000 from $1 million, but he remains jailed at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jeremy Carrasco argued during the trial that Wroe, an apartment complex guard, overreacted to a minor trespassing violation, firing four bullets at a pickup truck driven by Michael Krause, 19, on Jan. 1. Krause died after Wroe’s second shot hit him in the chest.

During the trial, Wroe said that Krause had tried to run him over. “I don’t know how the prosecution can go further on this, after the jury said they believed [Wroe] was acting in self-defense,” said Donald Calabria, Wroe’s attorney.