Bar Doorman Is Slain; 2 Arrested

An unarmed security guard at a neighborhood bar was fatally shot at close range early Saturday in apparent retaliation for bouncing a man from the tavern three weeks earlier, police said.

Two suspects were quickly arrested by a nearby patrol officer, police said, adding that Samuel Villanueva, a 34-year-old father of two, was attacked so swiftly he didn’t even have time to raise a hand in self-defense.

“It’s a real tragedy,” said Los Angeles Police Det. Stephen Fisk of the Van Nuys Division. “This guy’s working and along comes this hotheaded jerk and blows him away.”

One of the men taken into custody, Mario Balderrama, 24, of Panorama City, earlier this month had been kicked out of the Trophy Room, in the 14400 block of Titus Street, for unruly behavior, according to police. Villanueva had helped the bartender eject Balderrama from the building, Fisk said.

Villanueva was working the door again early Saturday when Balderrama and another man, Carlos Fuentes, 29, also of Panorama City, allegedly pulled in front of the bar in their car. As Fuentes waited, Balderrama allegedly walked up to the entrance, waited to be let in and shot the security guard twice as he opened the door. Villanueva was pronounced dead at the scene about 12:30 a.m.

Minutes later, a patrol officer alerted about the slaying on his car radio spotted Balderrama and Fuentes in a car matching the description of the getaway vehicle. They are being held in Van Nuys Jail on suspicion of murder. Their case will be presented to the Los Angeles district attorney’s office Monday.

Villanueva was a native of Veracruz, Mexico, who worked more than one job to support his wife, 4-year-old daughter and 18-month-old son. The family lives in Panorama City but declined to be interviewed Saturday, according to Fisk.

About an hour after the Panorama City shooting, paramedics were summoned to the 10000 block of Haddon Avenue in Pacoima in response to a shooting in which four men were wounded, one critically, according to Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman Bob Collis. All were taken to area hospitals. Collis released no names, and police said they had no information on the incident.