Van Nuys : Slaying Defendant Blames Harassment

An unemployed mechanic testified Tuesday that he shot two men at a Van Nuys bar after they intimidated him and identified themselves as members of a white supremacy group called Aryan Brotherhood.

Joe Lozano, defending himself against murder and attempted murder charges stemming from the April 7, 1992, shooting at the Rack ‘N’ Tap bar, said he was on a 21-hour drinking binge to celebrate his 30th birthday when he played pool with the two victims.

The birthday celebration turned to horror, Lozano said, when he used a handgun taken away from a suicidal friend to fatally shoot Ronald Wayne Clarke, 26, of Panorama City and critically wound Gregory Garner, 29, of Reseda.

Both men, Lozano testified, harassed him as he attempted to make pool shots in the Van Nuys Boulevard bar. The situation escalated when Clark came up to Lozano during the second game and made some racial comments, according to the testimony.

“You know, we can just leave you with a bullet between the eyes,” Clark said, according to Lozano, testifying in Van Nuys Superior Court.

Lozano went to a restroom and placed the handgun into his waistband in an attempt to scare off the men, but shooting erupted when Garner attempted to grab the weapon, Lozano testified.

Garner was struck in the side and ran out of the bar, according to the evidence. Lozano said he shot Clark when he attacked him.

During Monday’s proceedings, witnesses testified that Lozano shot the two men after threatening the victims because they were talking to a woman.