A 23-year-old Lancaster man suspected of attempted murder during an altercation that escalated into gunfire on Halloween morning at the Black ‘N Blue restaurant in Valencia was identified and arrested on Monday, said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officials.
According to Deputy Natalie Arriaga, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station, detectives with the Career Offender — Burglary, Robbery, Assault, or COBRA team, conducted a follow-up investigation after the Oct. 31 incident and were eventually able to locate Isaac Clark.
“On Monday, Dec. 12, 2022, COBRA detectives, along with the assistance of the Crime Impact Team and Probation Department, executed a search warrant at the suspect’s residence in Lancaster, during which the suspect, 23-year-old Isaac Clark from Lancaster, was arrested for attempt(ed) murder,” Arriaga wrote in an email to The Signal. “A search of the residence resulted in the recovery of a firearm loaded with a high-capacity magazine, identified belonging to the suspect’s brother, 23-year-old Isaiah Clark of Lancaster. Isaiah Clark, who is on active probation, was arrested for possession of a loaded firearm by a convicted felon.”
Arriaga added that both suspects were booked into the SCV Sheriff’s Station and were still in custody as of Thursday afternoon.
According to Arriaga, the Halloween morning altercation took place around 1 a.m. She said deputies had responded to a call regarding shots fired at the Black ‘N Blue restaurant on the 23400 block of Town Center Drive.
“Deputies arrived on scene and found a male suffering from multiple gunshot wounds,” Arriaga’s email read. “During investigation, deputies learned an altercation had taken place inside the location between two males, prior to the shooting. The argument continued outside the location in which a male adult then brandished a firearm and fired several rounds at the victim, striking him in the upper torso.”
The suspect then fled the scene before deputies arrived, Arriaga continued, and remained outstanding at the time a report was taken.
“The victim sustained life-threatening injuries,” she said, “and was transported to a local hospital for further medical treatment.”
According to court documents, detectives had contacted the victim at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital about a week after the incident during his recovery, and asked if he recalled details of the incident. The victim said he’d gone to the Black ‘N Blue restaurant with family members, including at least one of his cousins. Prior to the altercation, the victim stated that he’d consumed about two shots and two mixed drinks, and while in the bar area, had struck up a conversation with the man who would later be recognized as the suspect.
Later in the evening, according to the victim’s statements as indicated in the court documents, he and the group he was with, along with the suspect, were on the dance floor dancing. At one point when the group separated, the victim said he spotted his cousin in an argument with the suspect outside the establishment. He recalled going outside to assist.
“She seemed mad/irritated with the person she was arguing with,” the victim remarked in the court records.
The situation escalated between the suspect, the victim and his cousin, and another witness who was said to have been trying to pull the victim away, according to a witness’ statements in the court records. The suspect then “suddenly retrieved a handgun from his waistband and fired several shots toward them.”
“The suspect and the victim then ran in a westerly direction on Town Center Drive,” the records read. “(A witness) said the suspect continued firing rounds toward he and the victim. He said the victim fell down a bit further down the street and the suspect fled the location.”
Photographs and video surveillance, according to the court records, aided detectives in identifying the suspect. Further investigation led authorities to the suspect’s Lancaster residence, where they arrested him and his brother.
