Los Angeles Times - 09.08.2019

A8 FRIDAY, AUGUST 9, 2019 WST S LATIMES.COM

strained the resources of the
latter city’s Police Depart-
ment, authorities said.
Many of the attacks, police
said, were caught on surveil-
lance video.
The rampage closely fol-
lowed recent mass shoot-
ings in Dayton, Ohio; El
Paso; and Gilroy, Calif., that
targeted women, men and
children enjoying a night
out, shopping for school or
noshing their way through a
famous food festival.
The “needless violence”
of the past 11 days prompted
Garden Grove officials to
lower their flags to half-staff
on Thursday, said Garden
Grove police Lt. Carl Whit-
ney. “This violence has to
stop.”
Whitney said he has been
a police officer for 30 years,
and Wednesday’s rampage
was “the first time I’ve ever
seen a suspect kill four peo-
ple and stab others. It’s pure
evil.”
Castaneda has an exten-
sive criminal history in Or-
ange County, including con-
victions for gun-related of-
fenses, resisting a police offi-
cer, corporal injury, drug
possession and theft. He
also has several open cases
in Orange County Superior
Court on charges of vandal-
ism related to gang activity,
possession of a dagger and
drug possession. He has
pleaded not guilty to those
charges, according to court
records.
Castaneda’s wife alleged
domestic violence in a peti-
tion for a restraining order
she filed against him last
year. She could not be
reached for comment. The
couple have three children,
court documents show.
Garden Grove Police
Chief Tom DaRe said
changes in California law —
namely AB 109 — aimed at
reducing the number of in-
mates in the state prison
system handcuff law en-
forcement’s efforts to keep
criminals locked up and
Californians safe.
“This person should have
been in prison and not in our
community,” DaRe said. He
is “a violent individual who
should never have been con-
sidered for early release. ...
Our community becomes
vulnerable when these crim-
inals are released back into
society and able to commit
further acts of violence.”
Authorities said they do
not know what led to the
rampage.
Four men were killed and
a 44-year-old man and a 54-
year-old woman were
wounded in the attacks.
Authorities released the
names of two of the men who
were killed: Pascual Rioja
Lorenzo, 39, of Garden
Grove, and Robert Parker,
58, of Orange. And family

members identified one of

the individuals killed as

62-year-old Helmuth Haup-

rich.

Hauprich and Castaneda

lived in adjacent apart-

ments at the Casa De Por-

tola complex on Jentges Av-

enue in Garden Grove,

where the crimes began,

Whitney said.

Shortly after 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Hauprich and

his roommate arrived home

to find their apartment had

been ransacked. A passport,

a Social Security card, a

work authorization card

(known as a green card), a

sword collection and a large

dining room table had been

stolen, said Hauprich’s son,

Erwin.

Hauprich called police,

but before officers could ar-

rive, they were dispatched to

a report of an armed robbery

at M Bakery on Chapman

Avenue.

Bakery owner Dona Bel-

tran was outside, charging

her phone in her parked car,

when a silver Mercedes

pulled up a little after 4 p.m.

and a man, later identified

as Castaneda, got out and

walked into the store.

Thinking he was a cus-

tomer, she said in an inter-

view, she followed him in-

side. As she entered, she saw

the man had walked behind

the counter and was rum-

maging around, attempting

to open the cash registers.

“What are you doing?

What are you doing?” she

screamed.

The man pulled up his

shirt and motioned to his

waistline at what Beltran as-

sumed was a weapon. She

ran into a dental office next

door and yelled: “Call the po-

lice. He’s trying to rob my

bakery.”

The dental office employ-

ees locked the door. Beltran

saw the man lug away her

cash registers, plop them in

his car and drive away.

“It was a miracle” she

wasn’t hurt, she said. “This

was a second chance for me.”

About 5 p.m., Castaneda

returned to Casa De Portola,

where he got into an argu-

ment with Hauprich and his

roommate and stabbed both

of them multiple times,

Whitney said.

When officers arrived,

they found one roommate on

the balcony and the other ly-

ing inside. One died at the

scene, and the other was tak-

en to a trauma center, where

he later died, Whitney said.

The last time Erwin

Hauprich talked with his fa-

ther, the world was still in

one piece. Helmuth Haup-

rich’s apartment had yet to

be ransacked.

Erwin said his father had

lived in the apartment for

more than 20 years, was well-

liked and was “always mak-

ing jokes.”

Forty minutes later, Cas-

taneda, wearing a black

hoodie, walked into Cash N

More on Chapman Avenue

and robbed a customer, po-

lice and witnesses said.

Yesenia Torres, 34, of

Santa Ana was the lone em-

ployee on duty at the time.

She didn’t think much of the

man at first as he paced

back and forth inside the

store.

“I figured he was just in a

hurry,” Torres told The

Times.

Torres said she had just

completed processing a $

loan for a customer, who

took the cash and was walk-

ing toward the door when a

man walked up and told the

woman in Spanish: “This is a

robbery. The insurance will

pay you back.”

He had one hand in his

pocket and grabbed the

cash with the other. Torres

said she didn’t see a weapon.

“This can’t be happening

to me,” the customer said in

Spanish and stood in shock.

Torres said she averted

her gaze to avoid making eye

contact with the thief, but

once he exited the store, she

said, she was able to spot

his vehicle and wrote down

his license plate number.

She pressed the panic but-

ton and called law enforce-

ment, she said.

Initially, she thought it

had just been a simple rob-

bery. Hours later, she heard

about the killings.

“I was in shock. What if he

would have taken out a

weapon on our customer?

You go through all the sce-

narios. It’s scary. He seemed

like such a normal person,”

she said. “I do feel lucky.”

At 6:06 p.m., authorities

say, Castaneda tried to rob

the Best One Insurance

Agency on Harbor Boule-

vard in Garden Grove. He at-

tacked a 54-year-old em-

ployee, confronting her with

what was described as a ma-

chete-style knife, Whitney

said.

“This female employee

was very brave; this guy was

armed with knives,” Whitney

said. “She fought as best as

she could against this armed

suspect and sustained mul-

tiple stab wounds.”

The woman was taken to

a hospital and was expected

to survive.

His next stop was a

Chevron gas station, where

he police say he attacked a

man pumping gas, stabbing

him in the back and nearly

cutting off the man’s nose.

Castaneda returned to his

vehicle and continued filling

up his gas tank before driv-

ing off, Whitney said.

Chevron employee Tay-

lor Lorenzen told NBC the

suspect came inside the

store “kind of angry” and

threw a $50 bill on the

counter. The man who was

stabbed while pumping gas

was “bleeding everywhere,”

Lorenzen said.

At a Subway sandwich

shop in Santa Ana, author-

ities say, Castaneda fatally

stabbed Lorenzo before

heading to the 7-Eleven

across the street. That’s

where he attacked Parker, a

security guard, from behind,

stabbing and killing him and

cutting the gun off his duty

belt.

Detectives from Garden

Grove were combing the

area, searching for Cas-

taneda, when they spotted

the Mercedes he was driving

parked in front of the 7-Elev-

en. They confronted Cas-

taneda outside the store and

took him into custody at

gunpoint, Whitney said.

DaRe said the officers

“saved the lives of many

other community members.

If the suspect continued his

rampage he could have in-

jured or killed many other

innocent people.”

The violence rocked Gar-

den Grove, a city of about

174,000 in central Orange

County, which has seen at

most six homicides annually

in recent years.

“This is one of those

things you see one time in a

career,” Whitney said. “We

want to make sure we have a

solid case and we can put

this guy in prison for the rest

of his life.”

Julia Sclafani of Times

Community News

contributed to this report.

CPL. CHARLES STARNES stands among photographs Wednesday of Zachary Castaneda, the suspect in a

deadly rampage in Orange County. Castaneda, of Garden Grove, is accused of stabbing four people to death.

Photographs by Irfan KhanLos Angeles Times

INVESTIGATORSat the Casa De Portola apartments in Garden Grove. Author-

ities say Wednesday’s deadly string of crimes started with a burglary there.

Sources: Garden Grove Police Department, Nextzen, OpenStreetMap

Sh a f f e r G r u b b a n d H a n n a h F r y Los Angeles Times

Stabbing and robbery rampage

4 :09 p.m.

Burglary

reported at

apartment

complex

4 :09 p.m.

Burglary

reported at

apartment

complex

5 :

Armed robbery

at Cash N More

5 :

Armed robbery

at Cash N More

4 :

Armed robbery

at bakery

4 :

Armed robbery

at bakery

6 :

Armed robbery and

stabbing at Best One

Insurance, victim in

critical condition

6 :

Armed robbery and

stabbing at Best One

Insurance, victim in

critical condition

5 :

Two victims

stabbed and

killed

5 :

Two victims

stabbed and

killed

6 :

Victim stabbed

at Chevron

gas station,

in stable

condition

6 :

Victim stabbed

at Chevron

gas station,

in stable

condition

6 :

Victim stabbed

and killed

6 :

Victim stabbed

and killed inside

Subway restaurant

6 :

Security guard stabbed

and killed at 7-Eleven,

suspect arrested

6 :

Security guard stabbed

and killed at 7-Eleven,

suspect arrested

3

4

5

6

7 8

Westminster Ave.

S. Harbor Blvd.

Chapman Ave.

Santa Ana River

Garden Grove

Santa Ana

1

2

W. 1st St.

22

5

Four killings in

O.C. are called

‘pure evil’

[S tabbings,from A1]

ernment scientists say it

cannot be relied on to

detect actual biological at-

tacks.

The lawmakers’ letter

asks the GAO to assess

“to what extent Homeland

Security has implemented

recommendations from a

2015 GAO report to thor-

oughly evaluate the capa-

bilities of BioWatch.”

The letter also noted that

the GAO’s 2015 report had

recommended that Home-

land Security “incorporate

best practices for testing in

conducting any system up-

grades,” and questioned

whether the deployment of

BioDetection 21 has met

those standards.

The lawmakers said

the Feb. 15 Times article

“raises serious questions

and concerns about whether

[Homeland Security] is fol-

lowing through on the GAO

recommendations.”

“When it comes to pro-

tecting Americans from bio-

logical attacks — the U.S.

government has no margin

for error. Our security offi-

cials and the systems they

use to alert the public of at-

tacks must be reliable,”

Zack Roday, a spokesman

for the House committee’s

Republicans, said Thursday.

BioDetection 21 relies on

so-called trigger devices

that use fluorescent light to

identify potentially danger-

ous biological agents in the

air. Once the devices trig-

gered a warning, officials

would use handheld equip-

ment to confirm or dispel

fears that a biological attack

had occurred.

But the lawmakers’ letter

cited The Times article to

point out that four trigger

devices had failed in testing

last year to detect anthrax

spores, and only “correctly

detected small particles of

viral material in eight of 168

attempts,” — a success rate

of less than 5%.

According to the letter,

the specialists who exam-

ined the test results for

Homeland Security “recom-

mended against using the

handheld devices” required

in the BioDetection 21 sys-

tem, and concluded that the

trigger devices have “clear

limitations ... for detection of

smaller particles and some

biological threat catego-

ries.”

“If this information is cor-

rect,” the House members

added, “this would raise con-

cerns that [Homeland Secu-

rity] would be replacing

BioWatch with an even less

reliable system, with the risk

of state and local authorities

being burdened with re-

sponding to more false pos-

itive results.”

Asked for comment, a

Homeland Security official

said: “We look forward to

continuing the ongoing dis-

cussions of BioDetection 21

with our congressional over-

sight committees and the

GAO.” The official declined

to be identified, citing de-

partment policy.

James F. McDonnell, an

assistant secretary of

Homeland Security who has

championed BioDetection

21, has said he hopes to re-

place BioWatch in roughly

the next two years.

In an interview with The

Times in February, McDon-

nell said he aims to get as

many as 9,000 trigger devices

operating by 2025.

Problems with BioDetec-

tion 21, he said, would be

fixed along the way. “Part of

what I’m reining in the scien-

tists a little bit on is, ‘Don’t

let perfection be the enemy

of the good,’” he said.

New scrutiny of biodefense system

HOMELAND Security

official James F. McDon-

nell says BioDetection 21

will be fixed gradually.

Department of Homeland Security

[B ioDetection,from A1]

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