Reseda : 2nd Suspect Named in Shooting at Eatery

A 20-year-old Reseda man has been named as a second suspect in the drive-by shooting at a Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits two weeks ago that left a teen-ager dead and three other people wounded, police announced Friday.

Ivan Alexander Garcia Roldan was a passenger in the car that drove by the Vanowen Street eatery Sept. 10 and whose driver, Daniel Jesus Mejia of Encino, sprayed the area with gunfire from a 9-millimeter semiautomatic pistol, LAPD Detective Rick Swanston said.

Roldan, owner of the car that witnesses identified as a light-colored, four-door Toyota Corolla station wagon, also participated in a shooting along with Mejia that happened about an hour before, Swanston said.

Roldan is believed to have fled the area and is considered armed and dangerous, police said. He is described by police as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with close-cropped brown hair and brown eyes. Roldan has a tattoo of three dots on his face and a tattoo of the words “Try Me” on his right arm.

Authorities believe Roldan and Mejia are members of a Van Nuys gang and were looking to shoot a member of a rival gang.

Mejia, 22, pleaded not guilty Sept. 21 in Van Nuys Municipal Court to charges of murder and attempted murder in the incident. He is being held on $2.6 million bail.

Anyone with information about Roldan’s whereabouts is asked to call the West Valley station at (818) 756-8546 during business hours or (213) 485-2504 in the evenings. Callers can leave information anonymously if they wish, police said.