Two Alleged Gang Members Back in Court Wednesday for Shooting at Popeye’s Chicken Last December

The archival video above was published by Pasadena Now on December 30, 2015, the morning after the shooting for which Robert Arnaud, 27, and Jose Garcia, 32, have been charged.

 

The two men charged in connection with the shooting of a man at a fried chicken restaurant late last year are scheduled to be back in a Pasadena courtroom Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

The pair were both arrested in Azusa about one week after the December 29, 2015 incident in which a 19-year-old Latino and a 21-year-old Latino were fired upon two or three times by the passenger in a red car which followed them into the parking lot of the Popeye Louisiana Kitchen restaurant in the 800 block of North Lake Avenue at about 10 p.m.

The shots wounded one man but missed the second victim.

Pasadena Police Lt. Terysa Rojas said last January that Robert Arnaud, 27, a Los Angeles resident was arrested by Pasadena’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit during a traffic stop in Azusa late in the afternoon of December 30. Jose Garcia, 32, an Azusa residen was arrested by Pasadena homicide detectives at his home.

No weapons were recovered in the case, Rosas said at the time.

Deputy District Attorney Stefan Mrakich of the Hardcore Gang Division said earlier that Arnaud, aka Chucky, faces one count of attempted murder.

Co-defendant Garcia, aka Flaco, is charged with one count of accessory after the fact, knowledge of crime, by disposing of evidence, Mrakich said.

Case GA097819 includes allegations that both defendants committed their crime on behalf of a criminal street gang and that they were both convicted in 2008 of assault with a deadly weapon. The complaint alleges Arnaud used a handgun in the commission of the crime and that Garcia also was convicted of attempted robbery in 2004.

If convicted as charged, Arnaud faces a possible maximum penalty of 55 years to life in state prison. Garcia faces 25 years to life in state prison.

Bail was set for Arnaud is set at more than $2 million and more than $1.5 million for Garcia.