Suspect in Valley Village massacre is named

Nerses Arthur Galstyan, accused in the slayings of four men, is at
large and considered armed and very dangerous. He has also been
indicted on federal weapons charges.

By Richard Winton and Robert Faturechi

April 10, 2010

Los Angeles police said Friday that they are searching for a 28-year-old
suspected gun dealer in connection with the massacre of four men at a San
Fernando Valley restaurant.

Nerses Arthur Galstyan is considered to be armed and very dangerous and is
still at large somewhere in the city, possibly hiding with the aid of
friends or relatives, said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck, speaking at news
conference downtown.

Investigators said they believe anger was behind the attack April 3 against
six acquaintances at the Hot Spot Mediterranean Restaurant on Riverside
Drive in Valley Village.

Police said Galstyan was among a group of guests attending an afternoon
celebration in honor of a friend who had died in an accident a year earlier.
A quarrel broke out and Galstyan began shooting, they said.

Hayt Yegnanyan, 25; Sarkis Karadjian, 26; Harut Baburyan, 28; and Vardan
Tofalyan, 31, were killed, and two other men were wounded. Galstyan fled and
remains at large, police said.

Members of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Robbery-Homicide Division
have been conducting an "extensive, nonstop" investigation into the case,
Beck said.

They have made progress despite uncooperative witnesses and conflicting
accounts, uncovering leads that overlapped with information gathered in an
ongoing federal investigation into weapons violations and prompting federal
weapons charges against Galstyan, said U.S. Atty. Andre Birotte Jr. of Los
Angeles.

Galstyan had not previously been the focus of the federal probe, Birotte
said.

But early Friday, based in part on information uncovered in the homicide
investigation, a federal grand jury in the Central District of California,
which includes L.A. County, indicted Galstyan on charges of dealing firearms
without a license and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial
number.

A law enforcement source familiar with the firearms probe said that one of
the shooting victims, Tofalyan, is believed to have been a co-conspirator
with Galstyan in weapons dealing.

Tofalyan is identified only by his initials in the federal indictment and
the words "a now deceased unindicted co-conspirator." It is not clear
whether the slayings had any connection to the pair’s alleged underground
weapons business. Police said they didn’t know what set off the argument at
the restaurant.

Federal investigators are continuing their probe into possible firearms
violations, Birotte said.

Galstyan’s background remained murky Friday. Before the killings, "he wasn’t
on our radar for anything," said LAPD Capt. Kevin McClure. But the
indictment alleges that Galstyan cleaned and prepared firearms for sale and
had bragged to an informant that he could get his hands on 10,000 to 100,000
rounds of ammunition.

The indictment said Galstyan or Tofalyan unwittingly sold weapons to a U.S.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives informant at a water
store in North Hollywood several times in August, September and October. The
merchandise included a $500 revolver, two $1,800 assault rifles and two
semiautomatic rifles with the serial numbers scrubbed off, sold for a
combined $3,600.

McClure said that two search warrants were served Friday morning on homes
believed to be connected with the case and that Galstyan is believed to be
the sole shooter.

"There is a great deal of physical evidence that leads to this," he said.

Some of the slain men were acquainted with the victim of a 3-year-old
homicide case that remains unsolved, according to police sources. Akop
Akopyan, 24, was found dead on a Hollywood roadside March 12, 2007, with
seven bullets in his upper body.

Law enforcement sources familiar with both probes say Akopyan and the
victims were part of a circle of friends who did business together, but the
sources made no other connection between the two cases.

According to a law enforcement source, all four victims in the Valley
Village case have connections to Armenian Power, a violent street gang in
East Hollywood and Glendale. But none were listed on the county gang
database as formal members of the group. All four are familiar to
investigators who specialize in Eurasian-related crimes.

City Councilman Paul Krekorian stood next to the chief and federal officials
at Friday’s news conference, at which police sought the public’s help in
locating Galstyan.

Krekorian praised the efforts of the LAPD and various federal agencies,
including the ATF and the Secret Service. "A crime like this will never be
tolerated. Not in the San Fernando Valley. Not in Los Angeles," he said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call LAPD homicide
detectives at (213) 486-6890.

richard.winton@latimes.com

robert.fatu rechi@latimes.com

Times staff writer Jill Leovy contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2010, The Los Angeles Times