Man Held in ‘Execution’ of Convenience Store Clerk : Crime: The Anaheim resident is also a suspect in a robbery that occurred a few hours later in which a man was critically wounded at a liquor store.

ANAHEIM —  A suspected armed robber was held Friday in the execution-style killing of a newly hired convenience store clerk and the wounding of another, as Circle K executives and managers met to discuss employee safety.

Christian Monterroso, 20, of Anaheim was arrested without incident about 10 p.m. Thursday, Police Sgt. Chet Barry said. He was being held without bail in City Jail as police prepared to turn the case over to the district attorney’s office for prosecution.

Police arrested Monterroso after a neighbor said he fit the description of the man wanted in the shootings. Witnesses then positively matched him against a mug shot that police had on file of the suspect, police said.

“It was coldblooded and calculated,” Barry said. “He flat-out killed the guy.”

Police allege that Monterroso fatally shot clerk Tarsem Singh, 28, of Buena Park just after midnight Wednesday at the Circle K at 125 W. Vermont Ave., held 10 hostages for almost half an hour, ordered them to partly disrobe, and fled in a stolen car.

The suspect got away with $14 in cash from the register and personal items belonging to the hostages, company officials said.

Monterroso is also suspected of robbing and critically wounding Ashokkumar Patel, 38, of Yorba Linda, a liquor store clerk, just four hours later, about 10 blocks away, also in Anaheim, Barry said.

As police continued to interview the former hostages and review evidence Friday, members of both the Singh and Patel families expressed relief that a suspect had been caught. But they still felt confused and shocked, saying they are struggling to come to grips with the sudden horror that befell the two victims.

On Friday, about 20 friends and Singh family members gathered around his parents’ apartment in Buena Park to pray and support each other. Many brought food because, according to the family’s Hindu beliefs, food should not be cooked at the victim’s home during the mourning period before funeral services, which are scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m. at the California Cremation Service in Santa Ana.

The Singh kitchen table was loaded with food, paper plates and flatware, yet all remained wrapped. Few touched the food. Instead, they sat on the floor, barefoot, and talked about the “dedicated and solemn” man who had emigrated from Fiji just a year ago to help out his family financially.

The Circle K chain “lost $14,” said his mother, Jagendark Singh, 49. “I lost a son.”

Tarsem (Sam) Singh had been with the company just four days when the shooting took place. From his first day on the job, he had told his family that he was going to ask for day shifts soon, relatives said.

“ ‘I’m all by myself, and I just don’t feel very safe,’ he told me,” Jagendark Singh recalled, tears streaming down her face.

“Perhaps, (his death) could have been prevented had there been another person working with him or a silent alarm, or anything,” she said. “Tonight, my son is gone and I’m crying. But there are other sons who are working at other stores, and other mothers who, like me two days ago, are worried for their safety.”

According to a Circle K store manager, Sadiq Suleman, management officials met at the company’s headquarters in Phoenix with about 10 area managers Friday to discuss that very issue.

Suleman said that the shooting has unnerved Circle K employees and that many at the meeting asked for increased security measures, such as video cameras in the stores, silent alarms and two-person shifts. Such measures are not now standard at Circle K stores, workers said.

“A solution did not come out of the meeting,” Suleman said. “But we are optimistic, because they said they would review each store and see what each individual location needs.”

Company officials could not be reached for comment on the meeting.

Monterroso’s arrest came after detectives spent much of Thursday morning and afternoon canvassing the area where the stolen car was found, searching for a short, stocky Latino man--the only description the hostages provided to police, Barry said.

“Lo and behold,” Barry said, a resident in the area who had heard the description provided detectives with a name, which turned up in the Police Department’s computer because Monterroso had been booked Sept. 1. Police declined to say what he was booked for, because he was not charged with a crime at the time.

Detectives then showed several of the former hostages a “photo line” of Monterroso’s mug shot, alongside others. They all picked out his photo, Barry said.

Police then staked out Monterroso’s apartment and waited. At 10 p.m., Barry said, Monterroso was spotted walking down the street. Detectives surprised him, arresting him without a struggle.

“We didn’t give him a chance to try and get away,” Barry said. “When you get something like this, you make a concerted effort.”

Monterroso is expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Municipal Court in Fullerton on charges of murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, auto theft and assault and battery, Barry said.

Although he has never been convicted of a felony, Monterroso has a long list of misdemeanor convictions, court records show. He was recently sentenced to serve a three-year summary probation for malicious mischief, according to court records in Fullerton. Since 1989, he has also been convicted of petty theft, disturbing the peace, receiving stolen property, burglary and assault and battery.

Police said they have confiscated a handgun that may have been used in the shootings, along with other “physical evidence” that could link Monterroso with both robberies, Barry said. He declined to describe the evidence.

Police also released Friday further details about the robberies, some of which conflicted with the initial accounts that they gave Thursday.

Contrary to initial reports, for instance, police now say that Singh was alone in the store when the gunman first entered and demanded money.

The gunman began firing at Singh, striking him several times in the upper body, Barry said. Singh made it to a back storeroom and fell to the floor.

Monterroso allegedly walked up to him and shot him several more times at point-blank range, killing him instantly, police said.

“If that isn’t an execution, I don’t know what is,” Barry said.

As customers showed up at the store, the gunman held them at gunpoint, demanding that they take off their shirts and drop their pants, police said. All 10 hostages were men.

Barry refused to identify the hostages but said seven were put in a restroom, where they were later found huddled together in fear. Another hostage was thrown into a walk-in refrigerator, while two others were kept out front in the store area.

“I’m surprised he didn’t shoot any of the customers,” Barry said. “I’m sure they consider themselves exceedingly fortunate.”

At one point, a customer who was about to walk into the store saw the gunman and fled. The gunman shot at him, missing but shattering the glass front door.

Four hours later, police allege, Monterroso entered Hanshaw Liquor in the 1000 block of West Lincoln Avenue, then robbed, pistol-whipped and shot Patel once in the chest. He remained in critical condition Friday at UCI Medical Center in Orange.

Waiting and praying outside the intensive care unit, members of Patel’s family said they remain concerned about their personal safety and declined to identify themselves. But the group of eight relatives, with older women in traditional East Indian dresses, said they are relieved to learn that a suspect has been arrested and are hopeful about Patel’s condition.

“We are feeling much better than yesterday,” a brother of the victim said.

Times Staff Writer Thuan Le contributed to this report.