Gunman in San Francisco community activist slaying was facing deportation
Gunman in San Francisco community activist slaying was facing deportation
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Garcia-Pineda's monitoring device was removed four days after the slaying, making it harder for him to be found.
September 16, 2017, 9:32 AM
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal immigration agents were tracking a teenager who was facing deportation when he fatally shot a popular community volunteer during a robbery in San Francisco, authorities said Friday.
The slaying occurred on Aug. 15, four days after sheriff’s investigators say 18-year-old Erick Garcia-Pineda stole the murder weapon from the personal car of a San Francisco police officer.
Four days after the killing, Garcia-Pineda’s monitoring device was removed from his ankle, triggering an unsuccessful search for him. An immigration judge ordered him to wear the bracelet as a condition of his release from federal custody in April.
The case has stirred memories of the 2015 killing of a young woman on a San Francisco pier by a Mexican national who had been deported five times. A gun stolen from a law enforcement officer was also used in that shooting.
The shooting also ignited a national debate on sanctuary city policies that bar local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities unless they are seeking suspects convicted or charged with violent crimes.
Authorities say Garcia-Pineda had been detained by immigration authorities in December and released from custody in April pending deportation. In addition to wearing the ankle monitor, the judge required him to routinely check in with immigration officials.
He failed to show up for his August appointment, said James Schwab, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE said a contractor received a tamper alert on Aug. 19 but authorities couldn’t find him. ICE told the man’s attorney that his client should report to them immediately.
The sheriff’s department says Garcia-Pineda was wearing the ankle bracelet when he was arrested on Sept. 3 on misdemeanor battery charges and deputies removed it. ICE says the Sheriff’s Department ignored a request to block his release from jail that day.
Investigators later connected Garcia-Pineda to the killing of 23-year-old Abel Esquivel during a robbery.
ICE agents also asked the local sheriff in May to detain a second man arrested locally who is also charged with Esquivel’s murder, Jesus Perez-Araujo, 24.
San Francisco police arrested Perez-Araujo for possession of marijuana and illegal possession of brass knuckles. He was ultimately only charged with misdemeanor possession of brass knuckles, court records showed.
Esquivel volunteered at the Central American Resource Center, which provides legal help to low-income Latino clients and other social services.
“We were shocked to hear the weapon belonged to a police officer,” said Lariza Dugan Cuadra, executive director of the center.
Martin Halloran, president of the police officers’ union, said the officer did not know his vehicle had been broken into until after the shooting.
“There were no visible signs of the burglary,” Halloran said. “The officer, a highly decorated veteran, is devastated.”
In the 2015 killing, Kate Steinle was shot as she walked on a pier crowded with tourists.
The San Francisco sheriff had released José Inez García Zárate from jail several weeks before the Steinle shooting despite a detainer request from ICE.
Zarate acknowledges shooting the gun but said it fired accidentally. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
Jury selection for his trial begins Oct. 2 while the debate over sanctuary cities continues.
The Trump administration opposes the policy and has threatened to withhold federal funds to those cities, prompting lawsuits. A federal judge on Friday barred the administration from withholding funding until a lawsuit in Chicago is resolved.
California’s “sanctuary state” bill that would limit police cooperation with federal immigration authorities cleared a major hurdle Friday when it was approved by the state Assembly.
The Senate was scheduled to give final approval to the legislation before lawmakers wrap up the legislative year late Friday or early Saturday.
San Francisco police say Garcia-Pineda and two other young men began driving around the city looking for robbery victims after they stole the gun on Aug. 11.
A police bulletin from 2015 said officers should keep a gun with them when they are in public and that if they are forced to leave a firearm briefly in an unattended vehicle, they must secure the weapon in the locked trunk where it cannot be seen.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nati...icle-1.3499850
Teen wanted for deportation is accused of San Francisco killing
Teen wanted for deportation is accused of San Francisco killing
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September 15, 2017, 3:09PM
SAN FRANCISCO — Federal immigration authorities said Friday that they were tracking a young immigrant when San Francisco police allege he shot and killed a popular community activist last month.
Erick Garcia-Pineda, 18, was detained in December and released from custody in April pending deportation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. An immigration judge required him to wear an ankle monitor and routinely check in with ICE.
Garcia-Pineda failed to show up for his August appointment, ICE spokesman James Schwab said.
San Francisco police say Garcia-Pineda used a gun stolen from an officer's car to kill Abel Ezquivel, 23, on Aug. 15. He was arrested on misdemeanor battery charges Sept. 3 before investigators say they connected him to the slaying.
ICE says the sheriff's department ignored a request to block his release from jail that day. San Francisco's "sanctuary city" policy bars the sheriff from cooperating with immigration officials unless they are seeking suspects convicted or charged with violent crimes.
It comes amid a national debate over sanctuary city policies that the Trump administration is targeting. It is requiring cities to enforce tough immigration laws to receive some federal grants, which has prompted lawsuits.
Opponents of the laws often cite the 2015 case of a woman killed on a San Francisco pier, which police have blamed on a man in the country illegally after multiple deportations to his native Mexico.
California lawmakers were preparing Friday to vote on so-called sanctuary state legislation that would expand protections for people living in the country illegally who come into contact with law enforcement.
In Garcia-Pineda's case, police say he and two other men were carrying out a string of robberies in the city's Mission District when they encountered Ezquivel walking down the street. Ezquivel was shot and killed.
Garcia-Pineda and the two other men "were responsible for several robberies" between Aug. 13 and Aug. 15, San Francisco police Sgt. Michael Andraychak said.
Ezquivel volunteered at the Central American Resource Center, which provides legal help to low-income Latino clients and other social services.
"We were shocked to hear the weapon belonged to a police officer," said Lariza Dugan Cuadra, executive director of the Central American Resource Center.
Martin Halloran, president of the police officers' union, told the San Francisco Chronicle that the officer did not know his vehicle had been broken in to until after the shooting.
"There were no visible signs of the burglary," Halloran said. "The officer, a highly decorated veteran, is devastated."
A police bulletin from 2015 said officers should keep a gun with them when they are in public and that if they are forced to leave a firearm briefly in an unattended vehicle, they must secure the weapon in the locked trunk where it cannot be seen.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/74...deportation-is