Chino police fatally shoot bystander at pizza parlor
The Rubidoux man, 21, is mistaken for an armed robber. Several rounds are fired between police and two suspects, who are hospitalized with critical injuries. An officer also suffered gunshot wounds.
By Victoria Kim
February 3, 2009
Chino police shot and killed a 21-year-old bystander they mistakenly believed was a robbery suspect during a shootout at a local pizza parlor, officials said Monday.

Daniel Baledran of Rubidoux was ruled out as a suspect late Monday afternoon based on the statements of witnesses and officers, said Michelle Van Der Linden, a spokeswoman for the Chino Police Department.

Baledran died at the scene late Sunday after he was shot by officers responding to a report of an armed robbery at a Papa John's pizza shop on Central Avenue.

Several rounds were fired between police and two suspects, who were hospitalized with critical injuries, according to police. A Chino police officer also suffered gunshot wounds but was in stable condition Monday, officials said.

Van Der Linden identified the two suspects as Edward Cisneros of La Mirada and Joel Anthony Jaquez of Hacienda Heights, both about 28.

Van Der Linden said she did not know what Baledran was doing at the restaurant, saying investigators were still trying to reconstruct the events that led to his death.

"What behavior was taking place, I don't know," she said. "We've just come to the conclusion that he was definitely not a suspect."

The shootout took place both inside and outside the restaurant, and shell casings and drops of blood were scattered about the scene, according to Van Der Linden. A window at an adjacent furniture store was shattered by a stray bullet, she said.

Homicide detectives from the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department were also investigating.