Five people have been arrested in the slaying of a Marine veteran and father of four during a March 31 bar brawl in Antioch that didn’t involve the victim, police said.
Detectives have linked the five suspects, identified by police as gang members or gang affiliates, to the shooting death of Lizandro “Tony” Bertolazzi, 38, at Cruisers Saloon on A Street early in the morning of March 31.
Antioch police announced Monday the arrests of 22-year-old Juan Peter Herrera and Giovanni Lopez, 26, both of Antioch; 22-year-old Pittsburg resident Raymond Wehr; and two 17-year-old boys from Antioch and Pittsburg whose names were not released because they are minors.
Wehr is the brother of Armando Curtis Wehr, who is serving a murder sentence for the September 2007 killing of a Bay Point man at the same bar, when it was known as Club Q.
Bertolazzi, a Marine-trained mechanic, was having a drink with a friend at the bar when a group of men who had been kicked out of the establishment earlier in the night returned armed with baseball bats. They attacked the men who expelled them and at some point during the brawl Bertolazzi got up to see what was happening, at the moment gunfire rang out.
Bertolazzi is survived by his wife and four sons.
The five suspects were identified by witnesses or implicated in police interrogations, said Capt. Leonard Orman. All of them were arrested and jailed on either probation or parole holds while investigators continue assembling a case to present to prosecutors.
Police declined to say which of the suspects fired the shot that killed Bertolazzi, citing the sensitivity of their investigation.
Robert Salonga covers public safety. Contact him at 925-943-8013.
Follow him at Twitter.com/robertsalonga.
