Belmont Shore resident Stanley Park surrendered to authorities yesterday afternoon and was booked in the Long Beach City Jail for murder, in connection with the December 4 shooting of another Belmont Shore man. Michael Martoni was found dead at 2:00am in the 4100 block of E. Ocean Blvd., shot in the upper torso. Park and the 36-year-old Martoni had been witnessed arguing outside of the sports bar Yankee Doodles shortly before Martoni was found dead.
Detectives soon issued a request for information regarding Park’s whereabouts, and he was led into Police Headquarters with his attorneys yesterday. According to a Press-Telegram story today by Tracy Manzer, Park’s lawyers say that their client acted in self-defense.
“According to what our client has told us this absolutely is a case of self-defense,” [attorney Henry] Salcido said Monday.
Also according to the story, Park was known to carry a gun. He could be arraigned as early as tomorrow afternoon.
By Ryan ZumMallen, Managing Editor