Police huddle near a BMW that came to rest against a utility pole after its
driver was shot to death at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Pier
Avenue. Photo by John Tawa.
The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association
City of HB Info HBNA Photo Gallery HB Crime Info HB Weblinks
The Unsolved Murder of Hermosa Beach Resident Joel Bues.
If you have any information regarding the murder of Joel Bues, please call Hermosa Beach Sgt. Steve Endom at 318-0360 or Rosenberg at (323) 890-5564.
The Easy Reader – March 20, 2003
Rare homicide claims Hermosa man
by Robb Fulcher
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A 25-year-old Hermosa man was shot to death at one of
the city’s major intersections shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday, marking the first
homicide in eight years in the quiet seaside town, police said.
“This kind of thing really doesn’t happen in this area,” Hermosa Beach Police
spokesman Paul Wolcott said. “We’re doing everything we can to locate the person
or persons responsible for this homicide.”
A motive for the shooting remained under investigation, but a witness told
police it might have been a case of “mistaken gang participation” on the part of
the driver, identified as Joel Bues.
Bues was struck in the head with at least two gunshots as he sat behind the
wheel of a silver BMW, stopped at a red light on northbound Pacific Coast
Highway at Pier Avenue, police said.
“Another car pulled up next to him on the right side, and shots rang out from
that second vehicle,” Hermosa Beach Police Detective Sgt. Steve Endom said.
The BMW rolled forward through the intersection, coming to rest on the sidewalk
along the southbound lanes of PCH, its front bumper resting against a utility
pole. Bues was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police hurried to the area and found a 24-year-old Redondo Beach man who had
been a passenger in the BMW, and had not been hit by the gunfire.
“The passenger had initially fled the scene but was located some blocks away,”
Endom said.
“His statement indicated that it might have been mistaken gang participation by
the driver,” Endom said. The passenger told police that the driver exchanged
“gestures” with occupants of the other car, police said.
Hermosa Beach police detectives were being aided by investigators of the Los
Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which can employ resources including
forensics experts and an extensive crime laboratory.
Police were urging anyone who may have information about the incident to call
Hermosa Beach Police Sgt. Steve Endom at 318-0334 or sheriff’s Detective Jeff
Leslie at (323) 890-5500.
The last reported homicide in Hermosa occurred in 1995, when someone left a
newborn baby inside a garbage container outside a business. That crime has not
been solved.
In 2001 a slain body was discovered at a residential construction site, but
police believe the murder occurred outside the city lines.
The Beach Reporter – March 27, 2003
Hermosa Beach News
No new leads in shooting (3/27)
By Whitney Youngs
Investigators are still searching for leads in the murder of a Hermosa Beach man who was killed while in his car at the intersection of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway on March 18.
Officers with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide bureau are still unsure whether Joel Bues, 25, was killed in a random act of violence or if he knew the suspect.
"We still can't come up with a motive," said Sheriff Lt. Dan Rosenberg. "Detectives still don't know what exactly happened but they are spending a lot of time down there."
According to Press Information Officer Paul Wolcott, the shooting occurred at approximately 12:45 a.m. while Bues drove northbound on PCH.
A witness saw Bues, who was driving a BMW, pull up to the red light at the intersection in the outside left-hand turning lane. The suspect's car then pulled up to the BMW on the inside left-hand turning lane. While all three cars waited for the light to turn green, the witness saw the suspect shoot the victim and drive away north on PCH.
The suspect shot Bues in the upper torso and it is believed he died almost immediately.
Police found Bues in his car located in the 1500 block of PCH. Police are calling the murder a car-to-car shooting. Bues' passenger riding with him witnessed the entire incident. Officers interviewed him and do not consider him a suspect.
"At this point, we just don't know," added Rosenberg. "We can look at this case from a lot of different angles, but we first need to establish a motive."
According to investigators, Bues worked for his father's company, which specializes in the upkeep of taxi meters. Bues bought the BMW he was driving the night before the shooting.
Hermosa Beach's last homicide occurred in 1995 when the body of an unidentified infant boy was found dead in a trash can Jan. 10 in front of Aaron Brothers on the corner of Pier Avenue and PCH.
Another high-profile crime also took place later that year when photographer Charles Rathbun murdered 27-year-old Hermosa Beach resident Linda Sobek, a model and former Los Angeles Raiders cheerleader, in November.
Rathbun later led police to Sobek's body, buried in a shallow grave in the San Gabriel Mountains. Rathbun was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Those with any information on the shooting should call Hermosa Beach Sgt. Steve Endom at 318-0360 or Rosenberg at (323) 890-5564.
The Easy Reader – March 27, 2003
Fatal gunfire sounded like ‘toy gun’
by Robb Fulcher
A witness said it sounded like a toy gun going off
when 25-year-old Hermosan Joel Bues was shot to death as he sat behind the wheel
at a major Hermosa intersection.
The incident, the city’s first homicide in eight years, occurred as the witness,
a Hollywood woman, was leaving Hermosa to return home shortly before 1 a.m. last
Tuesday, March 18.
She was stopped at a red light on Pier Avenue, waiting to turn left onto Pacific
Coast Highway. Bues, behind the wheel of a silver BMW with a passenger beside
him, was stopped on northbound PCH, across the intersection, police said. The
witness said Bues’ car was in the turn lane to go left onto Pier.
“I heard four shots—bang bang bang bang,” the woman said. “I thought it was a
toy gun. It didn’t sound like a real gun. Then his car rolled in front of me and
I saw his head—the guy on the driver’s side—his head against the windshield, and
he had been shot.”
Police have said Bues was struck in the head with at least two gunshots, fired
from a car that had pulled up on his right.
Bues’ car rolled forward through the intersection, coming to rest on the
sidewalk along the southbound lanes of PCH and Bues’ passenger, a 24-year-old
Redondo man, got out and ran, police said.
“He ran, and I immediately made a U-turn back into Hermosa and called the
police,” the witness said. She asked that her name be withheld to avoid possible
reprisals.
Police found the survivor in Bues’ car nearby. He had not been hit by the
gunfire. The man told police that Bues had exchanged hand gestures with
occupants of the vehicle from which the shots were fired.
“His statement indicated that it might have been mistaken gang participation by
the driver,” Hermosa Beach Detective Sgt. Steve Endom said. Police said that
Bues was not a gang member.
Among the neighborhood residents who heard the fatal gunshots was a Mira Costa
High School sophomore who lives four blocks from the intersection, and was
awakened by what he thought was the sound of firecrackers.
Investigators were urging anyone who may have information about the shooting to
call Endom at 318-0334 or Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Detective Jeff Leslie at
(323) 890-5500.
The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association
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