Thread: CA: Authorities are seeking these fugitives in deaths of 10

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... itive.html

'It's been frustrating for everybody'

Authorities are seeking these fugitives in deaths of 10 people in San Diego in '06

By Joe Hughes
STAFF WRITER

February 7, 2007


Nine men suspected of killing 10 people in San Diego last year remain on the loose, most of them believed to be hiding in Mexico.
Hamstrung by Mexico's constitution, which outlaws extradition in possible death-penalty cases, police can't close the books on the cases and the victims' relatives are denied justice.

The homicides include a 7-month-old fetus who died after the mother was shot and wounded; the shooting death of a woman and the kidnapping of her 1½-year-old daughter; and the death of a businessman who was shot with another man while eating at a dessert shop.

The recent slaying at Extraordinary Desserts is the subject of an upcoming episode of TV's “America's Most Wanted.”

San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne said six of the nine fugitives are Mexican nationals and thought to have fled into Mexico where they have family ties and can avoid extradition.

The Police Department has liaison officers working with Mexican officials. The FBI also is helping in some of the cases.

There were 68 homicides in San Diego last year – 39 of them solved. Not being able to make arrests in the 10 killings has been difficult on homicide detectives and relatives of victims.

“We can't cancel the case until we make an arrest,” said San Diego police homicide Lt. Kevin Rooney. “It's been frustrating for everybody – relatives of victims and our officers.”

For the mother of Filemoni Lauina, the suffering remains particularly acute, five months after her son's slaying.

“She still is taking it really bad,” said friend Jose Garcia. “It's more difficult for her – for all of us – because the cops know who did this and the guy is still walking the streets.”

Lauina, 23, was fatally wounded Sept. 5 as he tried to stop an elderly man from being beaten in Lincoln Park.

Police found the getaway car used in the shooting near Mission Bay High School and traced it to convict Omar Luis Vargas, who could not be found after police swarmed the area.

In 2005, San Diego police had only one fugitive wanted on suspicion of murder. Going back 30 years, an audit showed a total of 24 others on the books.

On Friday, police said one of the 24 – Rogelio Calderon – was arrested by the FBI in Oklahoma City as he made a court appearance for a drug case.

Calderon had been sought on a fugitive murder warrant for the past 10 years, in connection with the Jan. 19, 1997, shooting death of David Gonzalez in Colina del Sol.

Homicide Lt. Jeff Sferra said the oldest outstanding fugitive warrant case for San Diego police goes back to December 1976. Jorge Luis Esparza Arvizu, then 40, is wanted for the Dec. 6 stabbing death of Mario Rinaldi, a clerk at a Barrio Logan market.

The 2006 surge in the number of “most-wanteds” comes at a time when police have had to withdraw officers from the U.S. Marshals Service-run San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force.

More San Diego police officers are going to street patrol or other duties to fill the void left by those who quit for better paying jobs and benefits elsewhere. Street cops make about 80 percent of arrests in the city, police say.

Two detectives and a sergeant were cut by San Diego police last year from the task force, comprised of representatives from several county agencies, said Greg Doss, supervisor for the U.S. Marshals Service.

The 45-member group exclusively looks for fugitives.

“That's what we do, and we have become very good at it,” Doss said.

The task force last year arrested 2,122 fugitives for a variety of offenses, he said.

The San Diego police officers and the resources they bring to the task force are missed, Doss said, especially because a good portion of the group's work involves San Diego cases.

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Here is the link to see the pics of these wanted fugitives:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib ... anted.html

Most are messican as per usual.

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Nine men suspected of killing 10 people in San Diego last year remain on the loose, most of them believed to be hiding in Mexico.

Saw this story in the paper today, with pictures of the nine sought, and as expected 6 out of the nine are Mexican Nationals and police are sure they are in Mexico, living free and without a care in the world thanks to Mexico's no-extradition policy for those charged in the U.S. with death penalty level offenses.

Of course, no where in the article do they mention that San Diego is a sanctury city. The SDPD chief, William Lansdowne is a total wuss, enforcing a so-called 'community policing' policy. He forbids any SDPD officer from asking apprehended criminals their immigration status, reporting immigration violators to federal authorities or even reporting known illegal alien criminals to the feds.