Ex-Saigon Officer Uses Rifle to Halt Skip-Out Suspects

Misdemeanor charges were filed Friday against five teen-agers and three adults who were captured and turned over to police Thursday by a rifle-toting former Saigon policeman after they allegedly tried to skip out on a $94 tab at a Vietnamese restaurant in Westminster.

The suspects, who were charged with defrauding an innkeeper, were among 19 teen-agers who refused to pay for a meal at the Pho 86 restaurant about 3 p.m. Thursday, police said. Two of the suspects allegedly brandished revolvers inside the Brookhurst Street cafe before the group ran into a parking lot and tried to flee in three cars.

But the restaurant owner’s brother, 43-year-old Tu Van Nguyen, fired two or three shots into the air from his semi-automatic rifle and detained eight of the youths at gunpoint until officers arrived moments later.

Eleven suspects managed to flee in three cars but the eight who were detained by Nguyen dropped to the ground and lay face down until police arrived.

Officer Larry Woessner, spokesman for the Westminster Police Department, said no one was injured.

Charged With Defrauding

Tai Huu Le, 19, Ly Khac Cu, 18, and Outh Bounevongsay, 18, all of Santa Ana, were charged in West Orange County Municipal Court with defrauding an innkeeper.

The juveniles--two 14-year-old Anaheim girls, a 16-year-old Santa Ana girl, and two boys, 16 and 17--were similarly charged in Orange County Superior Court.

The adults were arrested at the scene on suspicion of conspiracy to commit robbery and were being held at the Orange County Jail on $50,000 bail each. The juveniles were taken to Orange County Juvenile Hall, police said.

Woessner said that although a revolver was found in the trunk of a car impounded near the restaurant Thursday, only misdemeanor charges were filed because investigators could not immediately determine who might have brandished the weapon.

Nguyen, who owns a restaurant in Santa Ana, said Friday that he had just stopped by Thursday afternoon to visit with his sister, Quoc, at the cafe she owns with her husband, Tay Nguyen, when the youths finished their meal.

With his brother-in-law translating, Nguyen said he had heard from other Vietnamese restaurant owners that a large group of Asian teen-agers were skipping out on their meal tabs and decided to try to capture this group after pistols were displayed.

He said he was “a little bit angry because they didn’t pay. And the guns. They make a lot of hard work (as) customers to serve. . . . They also make a lot of mess (in) the restaurant and our customers, some they go away.”

Asked if he intended to wound anyone, Nguyen said: “No. Never.”

The rifle Nguyen fired is similar to a military M-16 but is capable only of semi-automatic fire. Woessner said the rifle was taken from him and the county district attorney’s office will investigate to determine whether Nguyen was justified in firing it.

‘Bullets Have to Come Down’

“We never like to see a citizen take up arms,” Woessner said. “If they’re using it to defend themselves, it’s one thing, but those bullets have to come down somewhere.”

Woessner said investigators believe that Nguyen fired the rifle only to frighten the youths so they could be detained.

“It didn’t appear that he was in any harm, but there was the fact that there were two guns pulled,” Woessner said. “Whether he needed to fire the shots in the air we haven’t determined, but it did the job. . . . But you’ve got high-powered rounds going up over the city over a $94 bill is what it boils down to, and the district attorney’s office will be deciding (whether it was justified).”

Neighboring merchants along the strip of Vietnamese businesses near the intersection of Hazard and Brookhurst streets were unanimous Friday in their support for Nguyen’s actions.

‘Can Learn a Lesson’

“All the building here, we’re glad--because it happens all the time,” said Monique Lam, a dental assistant in the office next door to Pho 86. “But nobody can do anything. But this time, they can learn a lesson, maybe.”

Da Ly, the 36-year-old owner of a shop selling everything from stereos and televisions to perfume and padded bras, said he fully supported Nguyen’s decision to arm himself to stop thieves.

“I think it’s OK,” Ly said. “I think better than to do nothing and let them (go) free.”