Deputies Arrest 3 Men in Drive-By Shooting

SANTA CLARITA —  Three men were being held without bail Sunday on suspicion of murder and attempted murder in a “rare” drive-by shooting in Newhall that authorities described as gang-related.

Robert Aguilera and Salvador Gonzales were shot in the 24200 block of Arch Street on Saturday, said Los Angeles Sheriff’s Deputy John McBride.

Aguilera, 20, was pronounced dead at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia. Police said he was shot in the upper body as he and Gonzales stood outside a friend’s home in the working class East Newhall neighborhood.

Gonzalez, 19, was listed in critical condition at Henry Mayo hospital with a bullet wound in the neck, but is expected to survive.

Both men were Newhall residents.

The shots were fired about 10 p.m. Saturday, as a white Mustang and a light blue, four-door Honda drove past the Arch Street home, McBride said.

The cars sped away, past two sheriff’s deputies who were on bicycle patrol. The deputies radioed for help and the Mustang was caught on the northbound Golden State Freeway, a few miles from the shooting scene.

Police arrested the driver, Edgar Bernal, and a passenger, Jose Talamantez, but did not recover a weapon. The two were being held at the Santa Clarita Valley sheriff’s station.

After an exhaustive search, deputies also found the second car allegedly involved in the shooting, and arrested Jose Castro, 21, of Val Verde, who was inside the vehicle, McBride said.

One suspect is still at large: a Hispanic male, 18 to 23 years old, McBride said.

“It appears that it’s all rival gang activity,” said McBride, adding that both the victims and suspects were believed to be gang members.

Police were searched Sunday for the weapon and the second car.

Sheriff’s Lt. Daniel Castillo, of the Santa Clarita Valley station, said drive-by shootings in the area, one of the first areas of Newhall to be developed, are fairly rare.

“I don’t have any hard numbers to define it, but up here my personal guess would be that this is maybe the third [drive-by] in the past year and a half,” said Castillo.

“The area is relatively neat and well-kept. Most of the problems have to do with parking and people not taking in their trash cans.”