Slain Robber May Have Had Accomplice : No Car Found That Could Have Brought Intruder to East Tustin

A robber who was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy as he held a shotgun on a woman in her East Tustin home Wednesday may have had an accomplice who fled when deputies arrived, authorities said Thursday.

When deputies searched the area later, they found no vehicle that could have belonged to the dead man, identified as Charles R. Ventle, 41, who until recently lived in San Juan Capistrano.

“Every car on that street belonged to some resident of the neighborhood,” said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Enright.

Investigators said they believe the absence of a getaway vehicle may mean Ventle had an accomplice who drove him to the house at 18912 Silver Maple Way, Enright said. But none of the neighbors reported seeing an unfamiliar vehicle in the area when the shooting occurred at about 5:30 a.m., he said.

Daughter Called Deputies

Ventle was in the den and was pointing a shotgun at Beatrice (Bebe) Valadez, 34, when two deputies, called by Valadez’s daughter, approached the doorway, Enright said. Valadez was bent over in a closet and opening a safe containing $13,000 in cash when the shooting began, he said.

Ventle apparently heard the deputies approaching and fired the first shot, Enright said. “He whirled and fired a shotgun blast into the hallway, blowing apart a door frame and showering one of the officers with debris,” Enright said.

Valadez, who was in the line of fire, was struck in the midsection by eight pellets from the shotgun blast but was not seriously injured.

The robber ran out a door to an attached garage as a deputy fired six rounds from his service revolver, Enright said. He said Ventle was “bent over, in a running position,” when one of the bullets entered his lower back and penetrated both his chest and one arm.

The wounded man tried to open two doors to the garage to get outside before he collapsed, Enright said. Paramedics unsuccessfully tried to revive Ventle before he was taken to Western Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Ventle’s widow, Sherry Ventle, said Thursday she did not learn of her husband’s death until a newspaper reporter notified a neighbor late Wednesday, several hours after the shooting. Investigators said there was a delay in notifying the woman because they had not yet confirmed the dead man’s identity.

No Criminal Record

“I don’t know anything,” Mrs. Ventle said. “Nobody’s even come out and told me he’s dead. I’d rather not talk to anybody.”

Authorities said they believe Ventle operated a furniture store in Santa Ana and recently moved out of his home in San Juan Capistrano because of marital problems.

Enright said his office has no documents indicating Ventle had a criminal history. “If he does, I don’t think it’s much,” he said.

Investigators found a “small-caliber” handgun, a knife and a lock pick in Ventle’s clothes, Enright said. “We felt he picked a lock, probably to the front door,” he said.

The shooting occurred the day after county supervisors instructed the district attorney’s office to investigate all shootings involving sheriff’s deputies, in order to avoid any conflict of interest. Orange County is one of the few large counties in the state in which the sheriff also serves as coroner.

Investigators refused to disclose the names of the two deputies involved in the shooting. Enright said the investigation probably will continue for several days, but that initial evidence indicates the shooting was justified.

“There’s nothing to hide in the thing because it was a righteous shooting,” Enright said.