Thread: Charges Pending in Border Shooting

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/m...m20border.html

Charges pending in shooting at border

By Anna Cearley, Onell R. Soto and Leslie Berestein
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
May 20, 2006

Federal authorities said yesterday they plan to file charges against two people arrested Thursday following the shooting death of a suspected immigrant smuggler near the San Ysidro border crossing.

The country's busiest land border crossing was closed for nearly nine hours, stranding motorists in miles of gridlock, while authorities investigated the shooting.

The two who have been arrested were passengers in a black Dodge Durango that authorities tried to stop on Interstate 5 just north of the border. Officials said the SUV accelerated toward officers, who opened fire and killed the driver.

One of the people arrested, Jose Adolfo Gonzalez Fabian, 26, a Mexican citizen, is expected to appear in court Monday on immigrant smuggling charges, authorities said.

Gonzalez has no criminal convictions in the United States, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack.

“He was arrested several times as a suspected human smuggler,” she said. But each time, authorities elected to deport him rather than to prosecute him, she said.

A 17-year-old boy also is charged in the case. Because federal juvenile proceedings are sealed, she said she couldn't give other details about him.

The man who was shot to death was a 22-year-old Tijuana resident with a border-crossing visa, according to the Mexican Consulate.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as Oscar Abraham Garcia Barrios. Officials at the Mexican Consulate said they were told Garcia was shot in the head, but U.S. authorities wouldn't confirm that yesterday.

Garcia was in the car with five undocumented people, ranging in age from the 17-year-old to a 35-year-old man, according to the Mexican Consulate.

The San Diego Police Department, which is handling the case, would not release identities of any of the men.

Lt. Kevin Rooney said authorities suspect Garcia was working with Gonzalez.

The other men were expected to be held by U.S. federal authorities as material witnesses, Rooney said.

Mexican Consul General Luis Cabrera Cuaron said the Mexican government will formally ask the U.S. government for an internal investigation.

The driver and three passengers were from Baja California, and the two others were from the state of Jalisco, Cabrera said.

Rooney said he didn't know how the suspected undocumented immigrants crossed the border. But the men got into the Durango on the U.S. side of the Otay Mesa crossing.

Someone tipped off U.S. law enforcement officials, who started following the car. When Garcia apparently realized that, he attempted to return to Mexico through the region's other border crossing at San Ysidro. U.S. authorities – including Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol – attempted to intercept the car by stopping traffic just north of the Mexican port of entry in San Ysidro.

When the Durango got stuck in the traffic, the driver maneuvered to the far right of the freeway. A U.S. law enforcement official tried to stop the car, Rooney said, and used a baton to break the car's window when the driver didn't obey. Afterward, he said, the car “accelerated quickly.”

Initial reports indicated the shooting happened after the SUV pressed a Border Patrol agent against a vehicle.

Rooney said yesterday that the Durango had actually forced the agent to retreat into the slow-moving traffic lanes, which was dangerous, but he wasn't squeezed between cars.

The agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer both fired at the car, Rooney said.

San Diego Police and the Medical Examiner's Office wouldn't say where the man was shot.

Cabrera with the Mexican Consulate, however, said he was informed that three shots were fired. Garcia apparently was shot in the head, neck and possibly the chest, Cabrera said.

Rooney said they found no firearms or drugs during an initial search of the vehicle.

Representatives of federal agencies declined to provide further information on the incident or provide the names of the two men who fired the shots, referring all questions to the San Diego Police Department.

Wendi Lee, a Border Patrol spokeswoman, said agents may use force if there's a possibility they may face great bodily harm. Agents use this criteria to protect themselves and others, she said.

Rooney said his agency expects to complete their investigation and report within a month.

The SUV was registered to a person in Northern California, and police will attempt to find what relationship the person had to the driver, Rooney said.

Staff writer Joe Hughes contributed to this report.
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Anna Cearley: (619) 542-4595; anna.cearley@uniontrib.com


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Mexican Consul General Luis Cabrera Cuaron said the Mexican government will formally ask the U.S. government for an internal investigation.

Oh, but of course! Stupid meddling imbeciles!

I'd like to have somebody investigate his..............

Good for the Border Patrol. There had better be no consequences for the Border Patrol agent involved in this shooting. He is probably very lucky the agent following them was also shooting.

Sounds like the man was given several passes before he tried to run over the border patrol officer. If he was expected in court Monday why was he out on his own recognizance given his history.
These jerkoffs know that we do not play hardball.