Three Men Arrested in Connection with Jan. 2 Homicide

Three 20-year-olds with documented gang ties were arrested Thursday for allegedly taking part in outside a North County home two weeks ago, police reported.

Booked on suspicion of murder in the shooting death of Oceanside resident Stephen Board, 20, were Eulise Valverde Solano, Benjamin Soria and Robert Cano Montelongo. At the time of his arrest, the latter suspect was already in jail on unrelated charges, according to police.

Shortly before 4 p.m. on Jan. 2, patrol officers responding to a report of gunfire found Board mortally wounded in a yard in the 500 block of North Redondo Drive in Oceanside. Medics pronounced him dead at the scene.

Witnesses reported seeing three men in dark clothing running out of the area to the southwest following the shooting.

This morning's arrests took place after detectives served search warrants at two locations in Oceanside and one in Perris, Lt. Joe Young said. Solano lives in that Riverside County city, and Montelongo and Soria listed Oceanside home addresses, according to Young.

The lieutenant declined to disclose what led investigators to identify the three as suspects in the case and would not reveal a suspected motive for the slaying, though police previously described it as an apparent gang crime.

Montelongo and Solano are documented gang members, and Soria is a known gang "affiliate," Young said.

The suspects were being held without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Monday afternoon.

— City News Service