Restaurant owner shoots, kills man after robbery

Thursday, April 25, 2002 | 11:12 a.m.

A restaurant owner who shot a thief and would-be carjacker to death Wednesday probably will not face charges, Metro Police Lt. Tom Monahan said.

"At this time, it appears no charges will be filed," Monahan said hours after the shooting occurred. Each witness interviewed told the same story of the events, he said, and the owner had a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Police will turn their reports over to the District Attorney's Office for review, Monahan said.

About 5 p.m. Wednesday, a man walked into Rosarito's Restaurant at Mojave Road and Charleston Boulevard and ordered a meal from a waitress.

As the waitress walked to the kitchen to prepare the food, the man opened the cash register and began taking money, Monahan said.

The waitress called out to the restaurant's owner, who chased the man out into the street. The two men ran westbound on Charleston, where the owner confronted the thief.

The man continued running into a parking lot at Charleston and 30th Street, where a woman was sitting in her white Subaru, preparing to leave.

He ran to her car and tried to force the door open, struggling with the woman, police said.

The restaurant owner, seeing the carjacking, told the man to stop, witnesses told officers. As the vehicle's door was opening, a shot was fired, and the man was hit, Monahan said.

The man, who was not identified, was pronounced dead at the scene.