US Coast Guard Killed During Law Enforcement Operations Near Santa Cruz Is. (update)
US Coast Guard Killed During Law Enforcement Operations Near Santa Cruz Island
December 2, 2012
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A member of the U.S. Coast Guard died Sunday morning during law enforcement operations in Santa Barbara County.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of our shipmate. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, and his shipmates aboard Coast Guard Cutter Halibut,” Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Robert J. Papp said in a statement.
The Coast Guard Cutter Halibut was investigating a Mexican-style panga vessel, which officials suspected was involved with illicit activities.
The cutter deployed a small boat and began approaching the vessel.
The vessel, maneuvering at a high rate of speed, struck the Coast Guard’s small boat before fleeing the scene, officials said.
Two members of the Coast Guard were thrown from the boat; one suffered minor injuries while the other sustained a traumatic head injury.
The injured man was pronounced dead by emergency medical responders.
Other members of the Coast Guard were able to catch up with the speeding vessel, and two suspects were detained.
“Our fallen shipmate stood the watch on the front lines protecting our nation and we are all indebted to him for his service and sacrifice,” Papp said. “Finally, I commend the responding Coast Guard and Customs and Border Protection units whose quick actions led to the successful interdiction and apprehension of those believed to be involved.”
US Coast Guard Killed During Law Enforcement Operations Near Santa Cruz Island « CBS Los Angeles
Mexican Drug Cartel Kills U.S. Coast Guardsman In Boat Attack Off California Shorelin
Mexican Drug Cartel Kills U.S. Coast Guardsman In Boat Attack Off California Shoreline
abc7.com
bitterqueen.typepad.com
12/03/2012
video: Coast Guard member killed in drug-boat crash | Video | abc7.com
The Mexican drug cartels once again have taken deadly aim against U.S. law enforcement.
This time the narco terrorists intentionally rammed their smuggling panga boat against an approaching Coast Guard inflatable which resulted in the death of Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III and the injury of another guardsman after they fell into the sea off the southern California coast as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
Two suspects have been detained.
The narco insurgents from Mexico increasingly are targeting U.S. officials on both sides of the border: last August two CIA officials were injured in a shooting ambush against their U.S. diplomatic vehicle on a highway south of Mexico City; in Feburary 2011 Los Zetas killed ICE agent Jaime Zapata and wounded his partner who were driving along a highway in the state of San Luis Potosi in a vehicle with U.S. diplomatic tags; in December 2010 the Sinaloa cartel murdered U.S. border patrol agent Brian Terry in southern Arizona; in March 2010 the Juarez cartel whacked U.S. consulate employee Lesley Ann Enriquez and her husband El Paso sheriff's deputy Arthur Redelfs as they were returning home from a child's birthday party in Ciudad Juarez.
Meanwhile, President Obama who is charged with securing the border, protecting the people and defending the nation cynically insists that there is no cartel-related spillover violence as he steps over the corpses of federal agents and officials on the blood-soaked ground.
Mexican Drug Cartel Kills U.S. Coast Guardsman In Boat Attack Off California Shoreline - Friends of Ours
Coast Guardsman dies when boat rammed off Calif
(AP) – 1 hour ago
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (AP) — A suspected smuggling vessel rammed a U.S. Coast Guard chase boat during a counter-drug operation off the California coast, killing one Coast Guardsman and injuring another, authorities said.
The panga — an open, low-sided fishing boat favored by Mexican smugglers — was captured after the Sunday crash near the Channel Islands, west of Malibu.
Authorities say such vessels carrying drugs or illegal immigrants from Mexico have been ranging farther and farther north along the California coast.
Asked whether any drugs were found on the boat seized Sunday, Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers said he could not immediately comment.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, 34, of Redondo Beach was pronounced dead Sunday after he was brought ashore at Port Hueneme, said James Baroni, Ventura County chief deputy medical examiner.
Horne suffered a traumatic head injury in the crash, Coast Guard officials said.
The second man was treated for minor injuries. His name wasn't released.
Horne and others were aboard a small inflatable boat deployed from the Marina del Rey-based Coast Guard cutter Halibut.
The Halibut's commanding officer, Lt. Stewart Sibert, told a press conference Monday that he and his crew were devastated by the loss of the man he called the best shipmate he had ever known.
"He was my friend, he was my confidante, he was the glue that held my crew together," Sibert said, choking back tears. "He gave me advice more times than I could count."
Sibert credited Horne with helping to rescue people on a struggling sailboat just a few months ago off of the Channel Islands.
"It was pitch black, the winds were howling, the seas were building and everything was getting worse," Sibert said.
Horne came up with a plan, and his experience and professionalism saved three lives, Sibert said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Horne and fellow crewmembers of the Halibut "were engaged in an at-sea interdiction when they came under threat by a small vessel that rammed their small boat."
A Coast Guard maritime patrol aircraft spotted the panga before dawn and the cutter was sent to intercept it, officials said.
The cutter deployed the smaller inflatable chase boat, but as that vessel approached the panga with its blue light flashing, the panga veered toward it at high speed and struck it before fleeing.
Horne and another crewman were thrown into the water.
Another Coast Guard vessel stopped the fleeing panga and detained two suspects.
"Our fallen shipmate stood the watch on the front lines protecting our nation, and we are all indebted to him for his service and sacrifice," said Admiral Robert J. Papp, Coast Guard commandant.
Napolitano said the tragedy was a reminder of the dangers men and women in uniform face daily while protecting the nation. She said her thoughts and prayers were with Horne's family and all Coast Guard personnel.
The Associated Press: Coast Guardsman dies when boat rammed off Calif
California sea smuggling claims Coast Guard life
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press / December 3, 2012
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/ap/coast...380;7;70;0.jpg
AP Photo/U.S. Coast Guard/ Lt. Stewart Sibert
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, stationed on the Cutter Halibut. Horne died early Sunday from injuries sustained during law enforcement operations near Santa Cruz Island, Calif.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The killing of a U.S. Coast Guardsman whose crew was chasing a vessel suspected of being laden with drugs appears to be the latest example of how smugglers are venturing farther north in a game of cat-and-mouse along the California coast.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne, 34, died Sunday after he was struck in the head by the suspect vessel near the Channel Islands, west of Los Angeles and about 180 miles northwest of the U.S.-Mexico border.
Two Mexican men — Jose Meija Leyva and Manuel Beltran Higuera — were charged Monday in Los Angeles with killing a federal officer while the officer was on duty.
Horne is the first law enforcement official to die on California’s seas since a spike in illegal activity began several years ago, said Ralph DeSio, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman. At least six people aboard suspected smuggling vessels have been killed since the 2010 fiscal year.
The Halibut, an 87-foot patrol cutter based in Marina del Rey, was dispatched after a Coast Guard C-130 plane spotted the 30-foot ‘‘panga’’ vessel was spotted traveling without lights near Santa Cruz Island, the largest of the eight Channel Islands, according to a criminal complaint.
The cutter contains a 21-foot-long rigid-hull inflatable boat that the Coast Guard routinely uses on missions that require more speed and agility than the cutter can deliver.
As Horne and his team came within about 20 yards of the suspect vessel in their inflatable boat, the suspect vessel gunned its engine, knocking Horne and Brandon Langdon into the water, according to the complaint. Langdon was treated for a knee injury and two other crew members aboard the inflatable boat were unharmed in the collision at 1:20 a.m.
Coast Guard spokesman Adam Eggers said waiting for the vessel to make land would have introduced other risks and logistical challenges. The Coast Guard’s mandate, he said, is to interdict at sea.
‘‘As of right now, there are absolutely zero questions about whether they followed proper protocol,’’ Eggers said.
Coast Guard crews followed the suspects by air and sea for nearly four hours until the vessel’s engine died 20 miles north of the Mexican border, according to the complaint. An officer used pepper spray on both suspects.
Meija Leyva identified himself as the captain and told authorities he was taking gasoline to lost friends, according to the complaint. Beltran Higuera told authorities he was offered $3,000 to deliver gasoline to another boat that was waiting for them, but they never found it.
The complaint makes no mention of drugs being found on the boat.
Attorneys for both men did not immediately respond to phone messages seeking comment. A judge scheduled a preliminary hearing Dec. 17.
In growing numbers, smugglers are turning to California seas to bring people and drugs to the United States from Mexico. The number of Border Patrol agents on land has doubled in the past eight years and hundreds of miles of fences and other barriers have been erected, driving smugglers to the Pacific Ocean.
U.S. authorities spotted 210 suspected smuggling vessels on California shores during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, up 15 percent from 183 incidents the previous year and more than quadruple the 45 incidents in 2008.
More than half the sightings are still in San Diego County, bordering Mexico, but boats are turning up as far north as San Luis Obispo County on California’s central coast. According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, there were 14 incidents in Los Angeles County last year, seven in Ventura County and 11 in Santa Barbara County.
Migrants pay thousands of dollars to launch from beaches and small fishing villages south of Tijuana, Mexico. They typically use old, single-engine wooden fishing skiffs known as ‘‘pangas.’’
In one typical case in October, a Mexican woman told authorities she agreed to pay $12,000. A criminal complaint says she was among 16 people — all but one a suspected illegal immigrant from Mexico — found in a 31-foot vessel that appeared to be taking water in the Newport Beach harbor.
In September, authorities seized 3,475 pounds of marijuana from a boat that landed near Hearst Castle on the central coast.
The Halibut’s commanding officer, Lt. Stewart Sibert, said Monday he and his crew were devastated by the loss of Horne, calling the Redondo Beach man the best shipmate he ever knew.
‘‘He was my friend, he was my confidante, he was the glue that held my crew together,’’ Sibert said, choking back tears at a news conference. ‘‘He gave me advice more times than I could count."
Just a few months ago, Horne helped save the lives of three people on a sailboat that was struggling against darkness and howling winds near the Channel Islands.
‘‘Our fallen shipmate stood the watch on the front lines protecting our nation, and we are all indebted to him for his service and sacrifice,’’ said Admiral Robert J. Papp, Coast Guard commandant.
California sea smuggling claims Coast Guard life - News - Boston.com
Memorial slated for LA-area Coast Guard member
Published 11:15 a.m., Friday, December 7, 2012
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Coast Guard Base Los Angeles-Long Beach will hold a memorial for the executive petty officer of the cutter Halibut who died from injuries caused by a boat collision while investigating suspected smuggling activity in the Channel Islands.
The ceremony remembering Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne will be held Saturday afternoon at Reservation Point on Terminal Island.
The memorial will not be open to the public.
Horne was aboard a small boat deployed from the cutter to intercept a panga boat running without lights near Santa Cruz Island early Sunday.
Authorities say the panga rammed the Coast Guard boat, throwing Horne and another crewman into the ocean. A propeller struck Horne in the head. The panga was eventually stopped and two Mexican nationals were arrested and charged with killing Horne.
Memorial slated for LA-area Coast Guard member - SFGate
Coast Guardsman Killed by Panga Collision Is Memorialized
By Melissa Pamer
| Saturday, Dec 8, 2012 | Updated 6:56 PM PST
nbclosangeles.com
A U.S. Coast Guard officer killed when a drug-smuggling Mexican panga boat rammed his small vessel was memorialized in San Pedro Saturday afternoon.
A 14-year veteran of the Coast Guard, Senior Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III died last Sunday when investigating a suspicious boat off Santa Cruz Island.
Two Mexican nationals have been charged in his death, which occurred after Horne's patrol vessel was struck by a panga that sped toward the Coast Guard boat after the latter flashed police lights.
At the last minute, Terrell pushed a boatmate away from the collision, which sent both of them overboard. Terrell suffered a fatal head injury.
"He put his crew before himself. ... He did what leaders do: He reacted instinctively, reflexively. He put his crew before himself, and leadership like that is the very soul of our service," said Adrmiral Robert Papp, commandant of the Coast Guard.
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano attended the 1 p.m. event, held at Reservation Point on Terminal Island.
"Senior Chief Horne devoted his life (to) serving the most notable of causes, the protection of our nation, the defense of our freedoms and the rescue of those in distress," Napolitano said.
Terrell was based in Marina del Rey and lived with his family in Redondo Beach. He was 34, and had two young sons and a baby on the way.
Colleagues remembered him earlier this week as loyal and calm during stressful situations.
"His true sense of leadership echoed throughout the station. He was that type of guy who would give you the shirt off his back. Everyone just remembers how loyal, level-headed, and what a friend he was," said Casey Curry, of Coast Guard Station Long Beach.
Coast Guardsman Killed by Panga Collision Is Memorialized | NBC Southern California
Boat operator guilty of killing Coast Guardsman
6:39 p.m. EST February 5, 2014
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/7076...uard-Death.jpg
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Mexican national was convicted Wednesday of killing a Coast Guard crewman by ramming his 30-foot panga boat into the vessel the guardsman was in as it approached Santa Cruz Island off the coast of Southern California.
U.S. Attorney spokesman Thom Mrozek said Jose Meija Leyva was found guilty of second-degree murder of a federal officer and other charges. A second man on the panga boat, Manuel Beltran Higuera of Mexico, was convicted of lesser charges.
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III was knocked into the water by the Dec. 2, 2012, collision. He died of blunt force trauma when he was struck in the head by the panga boat's propeller.
Horne, 34, was the first Coast Guard officer slain in the line of duty since 1927.
Jurors in U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess' court deliberated less than a day before convicting Meija Leyva of the murder count, two counts of failure to heave to and four counts of assault on a federal officer with a deadly and dangerous weapon.
Beltran Higuera was convicted of one count of failing to heave to as an accessory after the fact and a second count of failing to heave to as an aider and abettor. He also was convicted of four counts of assault on a federal officer.
Meija Leyva faces a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced March 12. Beltran Higuera faces a maximum of 60 years.
"We are pleased with the verdict and that those responsible for Senior Chief Horne's death will be held accountable," said Admiral Robert J. Papp, Jr., commandant of the Coast Guard. "While the conviction of Senior Chief Horne's killers cannot make up for the loss of a family member, friend and shipmate, we do hope that the conclusion of this case provides some level of comfort and closure to his loved ones."
A four-man Coast Guard crew was conducting a drug-smuggling investigation off the Southern California coast when it approached the panga boat about 180 miles northwest of Mexico. Such vessels are often used to smuggle drugs. Authorities said this one was traveling with its lights out when it was approached about 1:30 a.m.
Horne and the other Coast Guard members were about 20 yards away, the Guard said, when they flashed their boat's lights and ordered Meija Leyva and Beltran Higuera, in both English and Spanish, to surrender. Instead, authorities said, Meija Leyva gunned the boat at them.
Horne and Guardsman Brandon Langdon were tossed overboard. Langdon suffered a knee injury.
The panga boat fled, with authorities in planes and boats chasing it for four hours before its engine died about 20 miles north of Mexico. The pair were taken into custody after being pepper sprayed.
Authorities said Meija Leyva identified himself as the boat's captain and told them he was taking gasoline to lost friends. They said Beltran Higuera told them he was offered $3,000 to deliver gasoline to another boat, but no fuel was found.
The Coast Guard crew approached the panga boat in a 21-foot, rigid-hull inflatable vessel that is routinely used in drug investigations because it's faster and more agile than larger vessels.
Authorities said one of the guardsmen, Jonathan D'Arcy, fired several shots as the panga boat raced toward the smaller vessel, while Guardsman Michael Walker attempted to steer out of the way.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...dsman/5238243/
Report Concludes Panga Boat Operator at Fault in Coast Guard Officer’s Death
By Giana Magnoli, Noozhawk Staff Writer
Published on 03.03.2014 6:16 p.m.
On the back of murder and assault convictions for two Mexican nationals in the death of a U.S. Coast Guard officer, Vice Admiral Paul Zukunft has released additional information about the investigation.
http://www.noozhawk.com/images/uploa....Horne300_.jpg
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne holds his son during a Christmas cruise onboard the Cutter Halibut in this undated photograph. Horne was killed early Sunday when his boat was rammed by suspected drug smugglers near Santa Cruz Island, according to the Coast Guard. (Contributed photo)
Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne holds his son during a Christmas cruise aboard the Cutter Halibut in this undated photograph. Horne was killed in December 2012 when his boat was rammed by suspected drug smugglers in a panga boat near Santa Cruz Island. (Contributed photo)
Chief Petty Officer Terrell Horne III, 34, of Redondo Beach sustained fatal head injuries after his Coast Guard vessel was rammed by a panga boat in late 2012. Horne was thrown into the water along with another boarding team member of the Coast Guard Cutter Halibut, and Zukunft concluded that his death was caused by the deliberate actions of the panga boat operator.
As the panga fled the scene after the collision, the boat’s outboard engine propeller hit Horne’s head while he was in the water, according to the memorandum released last week.
Jose Meija-Leyva, 42, of Ensenada was found guilty of murder, failure to heave to, and assaulting federal officers with a deadly and dangerous weapon, and could be sentenced to life in prison. Manuel Beltran-Higuera, 44, of Ensenada was found guilty of failure to heave to and four counts of assault, and faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison.
Both men were convicted by a federal jury after a seven-day trial and are scheduled to be sentenced May 12.
Horne was the first Coast Guard officer to be murdered on duty since 1927.
The Coast Guard Cutter Halibut is an 87-foot patrol boat that was in Smuggler’s Cove off Santa Cruz Island on Dec. 2, 2012, to provide search-and-rescue coverage. A Coast Guard aircraft told them about a 30-foot, open-bowed panga boat in the area.
Four officers got into the 18-foot rigid inflatable boat, HAL-1, and approached the panga boat as they announced themselves to the boat in English and Spanish, according to investigative documents.
The men operating the panga boat rammed into HAL-1, and one Coast Guard officer fired seven times at the oncoming boat in self-defense, according to authorities. After the two people were recovered from the water, the Halibut rushed to Port Hueneme, but Horne was declared dead at the scene by paramedics.
Several Coast Guard vessels and aircraft gave chase to the panga boat, which was eventually intercepted near the United States-Mexico border when it experienced engine trouble. The two men were held at gunpoint and the driver, who didn’t comply with officers, was pepper-sprayed when the Coast Guard boarded the panga boat, according to the investigative documents.
The men told authorities they were transporting gasoline to another boat, and authorities found a satellite phone, clothing, food, toiletries, shell casings and Mexican vessel registration on the boat. There is no mention of any drugs or other contraband found on the boat.
The Ventura County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy and found that Horne’s death was a homicide caused by chop injuries to the head.
Zukunft’s investigation found that the Halibut and HAL-1 vessels were ready for operation and crews were qualified, except the certification to fire warning shots and disabling fire had expired. He also found that the crews all performed within the applicable procedures.
The Coast Guard’s Channel Island Harbor Station and Los Angeles-Long Beach Station were changed to pursuit-level IV stations as of Jan. 9, 2013, since they weren’t when this incident happened.
The investigation came to the same conclusions as the federal jury trial: Horne’s death was caused by the deliberate actions of the driver of the panga boat, Meija-Leyva, Zukunft said.
“Tragic incidents like these remind us of the dangers our crews face every day in the fight against illicit smuggling,” he said. “We continue to mourn the loss of our shipmate and resolve to honor his legacy and sacrifice.”
Zukunft has been commander of the Pacific Area and Defense Force West since April 2012 and has been recently nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next Coast Guard commandant.
http://www.noozhawk.com/article/coas...death_20140303
