2 JAILED IN SNIPER ATTACK OFFICIALS: DUO STAGED DEPUTIES' AMBUSH.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LANCASTER - A deaf convicted killer and a reputed reputed adj. referring to what is accepted by general public belief, whether or not correct. teenage gang member were arrested Wednesday as suspects in a sniper See sniping software. attack three weeks ago on sheriff's deputies. Val Smith, 35, who served six years behind bars for a 1992 Van Nuys killing, and 19-year-old Samuel Martinez, who deputies identified as a gang member, live in neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. apartments within sight of the car sales lot where deputies were shot at Jan. 6 by someone with a semiautomatic rifle. ``We've been watching both of them to determine if they both stay here on a regular basis,'' said Capt. Carl Deeley, commander of the Lancaster sheriff's station, after the pre-dawn arrests by a special-weapons team. Smith and Martinez were booked on suspicion of attempted murder In the criminal law, attempted murder is committed when the defendant does an act that is more than merely preparatory to the commission of the crime of murder and, at the time of these acts, the person has a specific intention to kill. and Martinez on a narcotics narcotics n. 1) techinically, drugs which dull the senses. 2) a popular generic term for drugs which cannot be legally possessed, sold, or transported except for medicinal uses for which a physician or dentist's prescription is required. offense. Deputies said they found marijuana they believe was being sold from Martinez's apartment. They didn't find the .22-caliber rifle used to shoot at the deputies. Sheriff's officials believe the first shot Jan. 6 was fired into the Mazda dealership showroom window to draw out sheriff's deputies, then the snipers waited until most of the deputies who arrived drove off and fired at least a dozen shots at three remaining deputies standing in the sales lot. None of the deputies was hit. ``We believe both were involved in the sniper attack on the deputies and employees at the Mazda dealership,'' Deeley said. Deputies will not say what may have been the snipers' motive. Smith and Martinez were arrested in simultaneous raids at 5 a.m. at the apartments, which are across a small courtyard from each other. Deputies broke open Martinez's door when no one answered, but he was arrested without resistance. Smith let deputies into his apartment, where he was with his girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter while the girlfriend was at work, Deeley said. Deputies had earlier indications that Smith and Martinez were involved in the shootings, got more information Friday, did more detective work over the weekend and obtained search and arrest warrants Monday, Deeley said. ``They're friends, though there is a considerable age difference,'' Deeley said of the suspects. The men's apartments are not the ones searched by deputies the day after the sniper attack, though they are in the same complex, across a field and dry Amargosa Creek from the car dealership This article is about car dealerships. For the indie pop band, see Dealership (band). A car dealership or vehicle local distribution is a business that sells new cars and/or used cars at the retail level, based on a dealership contract with an automaker or . Deputies were led to the other apartments by bloodhounds set to track the scent from where rifle shell casings were found at a low block wall that borders the apartment complex. Marijuana was found at one of those apartments, where special-weapons deputies fired tear gas tear gas, gas that causes temporary blindness through the excessive flow of tears resulting from irritation of the eyes. The gas is used in chemical warfare and as a means for dispersing mobs. after hearing noise from a television set, although no one was home. Someone from the suspects' apartments apparently visited that apartment, probably in connection with marijuana sales, Deeley said. ``There was traffic back and forth between the two locations,'' Deeley said. Deeley said deputies received a number of calls from people offering information and that someone may be eligible for $22,500 in rewards. Most callers said they had read or seen news accounts about the sniper attack or had heard about the rewards, he said. The reward grew Tuesday night to $22,500 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the sniper or snipers. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County supervisors offered $10,000, the Lancaster City Council authorized a $5,000 reward Tuesday night, state parole agent Larry Dorsey offered $5,000 from his own pocket at the City Council meeting, and the Association of Los Angeles Deputies, a deputies' union, put up $2,500. ``Because of all the information in the media and news about the reward, we have gotten calls from individuals with information,'' Deeley said. Smith was released from state prison in 1998. He had accepted a 15-years-to-life prison term in 1994 for second-degree murder, but an appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. later reversed the murder conviction and he was convicted of manslaughter, Deeley said. Prosecutors said Smith and two companions, also deaf, lived in South Los Angeles South Los Angeles is the official name for a large geographic and cultural area lying to the southwest and southeast of downtown Los Angeles, California. The area was formerly called South Central Los Angeles, and is still sometimes called South Central. but went to a Van Nuys apartment in 1992 to visit deaf friends. When they went to the apartment of a deaf woman they knew, they found Edward James
Edward James (1907 - 1984) was a millionaire of an American railroad family of Irish descent, whose British (Scots) mother was reputedly the natural daughter of the Powell Jr., 27, with her. An argument broke out, possibly over Powell wearing the rival gang color red, and there was a fight that ended with Smith shooting Powell, prosecutors said. Smith's attorney contended that police got faulty information from interviews with deaf people This is an incomplete list of notable deaf people. Important historical figures in deaf history and culture The idea that a person who was deaf could achieve a notable or distinguished status was not common until the latter half of the 18th century, when Abbé Charles-Michel de without interpreters. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour AV edition only) Sniper suspect Samuel Martinez, 19, sits in the back seat of a patrol car after being arrested Wednesday on suspicion of attempted murder. (2 -- ran in AV edition only) Sheriff's deputies head up the stairs of an apartment complex on Gadsden Avenue in search of a suspect in a Jan. 6 sniper attack on sheriff's deputies. Charles F. Bostwick/Daily News |
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