Woman held in slaying of Lytle Creek man
A San Bernardino woman who is said to have ties to the Vagos motorcycle gang was arrested on suspicion of murdering a Lytle Creek man, authorities said Wednesday.
Jeanne “Mean Jeanne” Loza, 47, was arrested last week in Lake Havasu City, Ariz. Her husband, John “Pelone” Loza, 58, is also wanted in the slaying, officials said. John Loza is a member of the Vagos Motorcycle Club, an organization founded in the 1960s that authorities say deals drugs and weapons.
The victim, John Edward Rintalan, 54, was reported missing by his girlfriend March 13, said Arden Wiltshire, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
Investigators found a significant amount of blood in his home. Three weeks later, a stalled motorist found Rintalan’s decomposed body off Highway 2 near Desert Front Road and Phelan.
Rintalan was a friend of the Lozas, who had been living in a guest house on his property for several months when the slaying occurred, Wiltshire said. Rintalan knew several of the Vagos but was not a member, she said.
Authorities on Tuesday took Jeanne Lozas to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga, where she is being held without bail.
In recent years, the Vagos and their better-known archrivals, the Hells Angels, have been the target of law enforcement crackdowns. A sweep through five Southern California counties last year resulted in 22 arrests of Vagos members.
The Vagos are classified as a criminal street gang, but the group’s leaders have long denied having ties to criminal activity.
The gang includes about 300 members in California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and Mexico.
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