3rd arrest in drive-by investigation

An Illinois man was arrested early Friday in connection with the August drive-by shooting off Baker Street in Costa Mesa that left one man dead and four others wounded.

Anthony Nicholas Dispensa, 21, was arrested in the parking lot of the Franklin Motel on Beach Boulevard in Buena Park on a charge of suspicion of murder, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Tom Curtis said.

Buena Park Police officers who were in the area on an unrelated call approached Dispensa, striking up a conversation that reportedly led them to check for warrants. A warrant for his arrest had been issued Sept. 29, Curtis said.

On Aug. 2, Israel Maciel, 23, was shot to death in the alley of an apartment complex in the 1300 block of West Baker Street. Four others injured in the shooting were hospitalized and released later that week.

Joshua Anthony Blount of Compton and Rachel Salorio of Irvine were also arrested in connection with the shooting. Both are 22. Blount was arrested Sept. 26 on a charge of murder with a special circumstance allegation that he used a gun. He is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 17.

Salorio was arrested Sept. 27, when she visited Blount at the Costa Mesa jail. She has pleaded not guilty to a charge of accessory to murder and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Monday.

Maciel’s stepfather, Martin Rodriguez, said he is not surprised that a third person was arrested in connection with the death of his stepson.

Several days before the drive-by shooting, Rodriguez said he noticed two men in a Chevy Impala driving behind the alley of his apartment complex. One of the men appeared Latino, like Blount, and the other man looked white, Rodriguez said.

“They would drive daily behind the alley,” Rodriguez said Friday in Spanish. “I would just see them and think nothing of it.”

On the day of the drive-by shooting, Rodriguez said he ran out of his apartment following the noise of the gunshots. As he was running out of his apartment, he said he saw the Chevy Impala speeding out of the alley onto Baker Street. Rodriguez’s apartment is next to one of the alley’s exits.

He said he didn’t make a connection to the drive-by shooting until later.

“I knew there was another one loose who had something to do with my son’s death,” Rodriguez said.

On Sept. 27, two days before Costa Mesa Police issued the warrant for Dispensa’s arrest, Rodriguez received a call from a woman who told him police had found a man in Illinois connected to his son’s alleged homicide.

When asked about the call Rodriguez received, Costa Mesa Police Sgt. Don Holford said the information was inaccurate.

“The information did not come from those associated with the investigation,” Holford said on Sept. 27.

Dispensa checked into the motel on Wednesday and paid cash for his stay Wednesday and Thursday nights in Room 215, hotel manager Allen Tsai said. It is not known why he was staying in the hotel, Police Lt. Curtis said.

Dispensa was booked at the Costa Mesa jail with no bail set. He’s scheduled for arraignment Monday.

Police are continuing their investigation. The gun and car used in the shooting have not been found. Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Det. Dana Potts at (714) 754-5363 or Det. Pat Wesel at (714) 754-5178.