The illegal immigrant fugitive who was wanted in the murder of a California police officer was taken into custody on Friday after being on the run for more than two days, according to an official, who made the case that the fatal encounter may have been preventable.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson announced the arrest of the suspect — identified as Gustavo Perez Arriaga — in Bakersfield, about 280 miles southeast of Newman, where Police Cpl. Ronil Singh was gunned down early Wednesday. The arrest was confirmed by the Fresno County and Kern County Sheriff’s Offices.
Christianson, whose department has been handling the case, told reporters at a news conference that Arriaga is from Mexico and was in the U.S. illegally after previously crossing the Arizona border. It wasn’t clear when that crossing occurred, though.
Christianson said the suspect had been in the country for a number of years and was seeking to cross back over the border before the shooting occurred.
The suspect had known gang affiliations, as well as two past DUI arrests, Christianson said.
The suspect was stopped by Singh for a DUI investigation before getting into a gunfight with the officer, during which Singh tried to defend himself, Christianson said at a separate news conference Thursday. – READ MORE