Eric Montiel still being sought in El Torito bar shooting of Jose Beltran-Galindo (46)

Big pic below.

Update: Lakewood Police have belatedly released a mug shot of Eric Montiel, the chief suspect in the January 4 slaying of El Torito bartender Jose Beltran-Galindo. In addition, the LPD has tweaked the license plate number of Montiel's reported vehicle. Look below to see that release, a larger photo of Montiel and our previous coverage.

Updated Lakewood Police Department release:

Warrant Issued for Homicide Suspect

The Lakewood Police Department has identified the suspect involved in the fatal shooting on January 4, at El Torito Bar and Grill. Detectives have obtained a warrant for an Eric Hernandez Montiel (06-07-73). He is described to be a Hispanic male 5'5" 140 lbs. brown hair and brown eyes. He is believed to be driving a 2001 light gray Chevrolet SUV license plate 346SMI.

Anyone who may have information that would assist the detectives in locating Montiel, is asked to contact the Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-7111.

Eric Montiel.

Original item, January 7, 9:52 a.m.:

CBS4

Although Eric Montiel, 37, the primary suspect in the January 4 murder of El Torito bartender Jose Beltran-Galindo, remains at large as of this writing, but the Lakewood Police Department has not released his photo to the media. According to LPD spokesman Steve Davis, investigators are still showing the mug shot to people who were at the watering hole the night of the murder. But he's hopeful he'll be able to make it available before day's end.

"We have some pretty good leads" on Montiel, Davis notes. "Obviously, when we have someone out there we're looking for, we hate to tip them off too much. But we're optimistic."

Davis confirms that Montiel has no criminal history in Lakewood; the mug shot in question is from a jurisdiction he's not identifying at this time.

For more details on the slaying, check out the following LPD releases, both issued January 5, as well as an interactive graphic showing the area near the crime scene (if you have problems seeing the image, click "View Larger Map").

January 5 releases:

Homicide Victim Identified

Lakewood police detectives have identified the victim of a shooting that occurred last night at the El Torito Bar & Grill located at 999 Sheridan Blvd shortly after 7:30 pm.

At about 7:36 pm last night, Lakewood police responded to the bar after receiving calls which indicated shots had been fired and a man was down in the parking lot.

33-year-old Jose Beltran-Galindo (03-19-77) was found lying in the parking lot at the bar and had sustained at least one gunshot wound. Beltran-Galindo was an employee of the bar and had escorted one or two male patrons outside after some type of altercation had occurred inside. The males were believed to be associated with three other males who had been in the bar. All of the male parties left following the shooting.

Witnesses described two vehicles as possibly being those in which the suspects left in. The first was a white Chevrolet minivan with a dark colored hood and secondly, a tan or gold full sized SUV.

Beltran-Galindo was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before 8:00 pm.

Police continue their investigation but have made no arrests as of yet.

Anyone who feels they may have information that would assist detectives is asked to call the Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-7111.

Warrant Issued for Homicide Suspect

The Lakewood Police Department has identified the suspect involved in the fatal shooting on January 4, at El Torito Bar and Grill. Detectives have obtained a warrant for an Eric Hernandez Montiel (06-07-73). He is described to be a Hispanic male 5'5" 140 lbs. brown hair and brown eyes. He is believed to be driving a 2001 light gray Chevrolet SUV license plate 368SMI.

Anyone who may have information that would assist the detectives in locating Montiel, is asked to contact the Lakewood Police Department at 303-987-7111.

View Larger Map

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