Man convicted in bouncer’s death

A San Jacinto man was convicted of his third offense Monday for shooting and killing a bouncer at a strip club in Santa Ana.

Carlos Rosario Gonzales, 37, was found guilty of one felony count of murder with sentencing enhancements for using a personal firearm and using it to cause a death. Gonzales faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison. He has two prior convictions for assault with a deadly weapon in 1998 and a carjacking in 2004.

Gonzales and two friends were asked to leave California Girls Nightclub in Santa Ana after one of them inappropriately touched one of the women working there in October 2006. The three went outside but refused to leave, wanting to confront the woman. The bouncers would not let them back inside and eventually called the manager.

One of Gonzales’ friends was pepper-sprayed by a security guard who felt that the friend was advancing on a bouncer, and a fight broke out. Gonzales, however, went back to his truck for his firearm and returned as the fight was ending to shoot bouncer Michael Blankenhorn.

Gonzales shot Blankenhorn once in the back and killed him. Gonzales then fled the scene, but was arrested while working at a construction site in Fountain Valley.

Gonzales will be sentenced at 9 a.m. Dec. 11 in room C-44 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.

— Britney Barnes