By Brian Anderson
Contra Costa Newspapers

Oct. 30, 2002

OAKLAND —Standing across from the Outback Steakhouse, Jeffrey DeRespini spotted Alameda County Sheriff's Deputy Sheriff Angela Schwab as she rolled up to the eatery.

Moments later, Deputy John Monego followed suit.

It's probably a false alarm, DeRespini recalled saying to his friends. But within seconds, the situation turned all too real for the Monarch Best Western hotel security guard. In the blink of an eye, bullets had felled Monego.

"I don't even think he got his whole body inside when we heard shots," he told an Oakland courtroom Tuesday. "When he first came out, it looked like he was blown backwards."

DeRespini was the first of several eyewitnesses to Monego's shooting to take the stand in the trial of three men accused of killing the Brentwood father during a bungled robbery.

He talked of a gunman who knocked Monego back. And he talked of a killer who fired the fatal shots.

"I saw another individual run over to him, crouch over and begin firing shots," DeRespini said. "He took aim at the police officer and shot."

DeRespini said that, as he ran for help, two men ran toward a white car.

At the same time, Matthew Lewis was charging from the restaurant, he told jurors Tuesday.

Lewis, who had been at the Monarch earlier that night, had been looking for his girlfriend when he was taken hostage, he said. He had been beaten and forced to the ground, he said.

He watched, he said, as the robbers forced Schwab to the ground. She had been taken by surprise while responding to an emergency call from the restaurant, lawyers have said.

After the shots were fired, Lewis knew he had to get out, he said.

"I saw an officer down," Lewis testified. "As soon as I came outside, he was just laying there, his eyes were closed."

He said he grabbed the man's radio and called for help. A tape of the dispatch was played for jurors.

"I just held him until someone else came," Lewis said. "I saw his name was John and I said, 'Hang on, John.' "

Soon, a cacophony of sirens began bombarding the area, the witnesses testified.

DeRespini testified that he directed officers to the white car he had watched drive away.

Lewis said he watched as paramedics worked on Monego. The witnesses later learned authorities had arrested Reuben Eliceo Vasquez, 27, Miguel Galindo Sifuentes, 23, and Hai Minh Le, 23. Each is charged with a first-degree murder count with special-circumstance enhancements that could bring a death sentence.

On Tuesday, Lewis said Le was the man who had forced him to the ground.

DeRespini could not identify any of the defendants.