Suspect in Fatal Shooting Is Held in San Clemente
SAN CLEMENTE — A 34-year-old man suspected of shooting a local drifter to death in July has been taken into custody by Costa Mesa police after a three-month nationwide manhunt, police said.
James Warren Anderson, described as a regular at biker bars throughout Southern California, was arrested by Costa Mesa police about 3 a.m. Monday on unrelated charges of defrauding an innkeeper and possession of narcotics, police said Monday.
Although Anderson allegedly tried to give Costa Mesa authorities a false name, a jailer ran the suspect’s fingerprints through a state computer and found that he was a murder suspect, San Clemente Police Sgt. James Thomas said.
“The booking officer just didn’t feel right about the name,” Thomas said.
Later on Monday, police moved Anderson to San Clemente City Jail, where he was being held on $500,000 bail, Thomas said. He is to be arraigned today in Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel on a charge of murder.
Police launched a nationwide search for Anderson after the July 5 shooting of Steven Coyne, 29, in an alley behind a bar near El Camino Real and West Avenida Ramona.
The victim, who had been living in motels, was shot twice in the shoulder, authorities said at the time of the shooting.
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