Long arm of the law just a finger in this case // CRIME: An unarmed guard says he apprehended a shooting suspect with his digit.

DATE                  02/20/95
NEWSPAPER             THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SECTION               METRO
EDITION               MORNING
PAGE                  b01
STORY LENGTH          11 INCHES
HEADLINE              Long arm of the law   just a finger in this case // 
                         CRIME: An unarmed guard says he apprehended a 
                         shooting suspect with his  digit.
BYLINE/CREDIT         DAN FROOMKIN:  The Orange County Register
SUBJECT TERMS         GANGS:SHOOTINGS:OC:ARRESTS:UNUSUAL
  KEYWORD-HIT.
     A security guard watching a church parking lot apprehended an
  armed suspect in a gang shooting Saturday -- by pointing a finger in
  his face and threatening to shoot, the guard says.
     "When you've got a .357 Magnum finger like me, you don't have
  any problems," said Louis Rienzo, 26, of Garden Grove.
     Rienzo heard gunfire about 9:30 p.m. -- what turned out to be an
  exchange of shots outside the Cafe Pensee, 10515 McFadden Ave. A
  gang member and a 15-year-old bystander were injured, police said.
     Moments later, Rienzo said, he saw someone approach the dark
  corner of Maxine Street and Tampion Avenue and stash a gun in the
  bushes. Rienzo went over to look, and while he was kneeling in the
  bushes, another person with a gun approached.
     "He was less than 10 feet away," said Rienzo. "So I drew first."
  But Rienzo did not have his gun.
     "I jumped up and put my finger in his face," Rienzo said. "I
  said, `Garden Grove Police! Freeze! Drop it or you're dead.' "
     Rienzo said the man did as he was told. "Then he looked at my
  hands, and I said, `I'll shoot you in the face,' so he kind of
  looked away, and I said, `Lie down.'
     "He said, `Who are you?' and I said, `I'm the Shadow.' "
     Garden Grove police confirmed that Rienzo turned the suspect,
  whom they identified as An Nguyen, 18, of Santa Ana, over to
  officers. Nguyen was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, as
  was Tu Do, 19, of Westminster, who was arrested at Fountain Valley
  Regional Hospital and Medical Center.
     But police said they couldn't attest to the details of Rienzo's
  story -- and certainly wouldn't encourage others to do what he said
  he did.
     "If you see a license number, fine, note it," said Garden Grove
  police Sgt. Dale Farley. "But that was something that I would not
  encourage anyone to do."