Illegal alien 7-11 shooter was previously deported
Aspen Daily News
Printed From: http://www.aspendailynews.com/article_21029
Store shooting suspect had been deported
Brent Gardner-Smith - Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Fri 08/03/2007 10:01PM
Ricardo Ramirez was in the country illegally when Basalt police suspect he fired five shots into the Basalt 7-Eleven store on June 26 and had once been deported in 2004 by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.
"We physically removed him from the country," said Tim Counts, a public affairs officer with ICE in Bloomington, Minn. "But he apparently snuck back into the country illegally."
Ramirez, 22, is being sought for criminal attempt at first-degree assault and felony menacing. On July 11, Basalt police found an M-1 rifle in his El Jebel residence, consistent with .30-caliber shell casings found in the store.
The shooting occurred just after 11 p.m. on June 26. At about 9:40 p.m. that night, Ramirez and another man are said to have threatened part-time 7-Eleven clerk Bruno Kirchenwitz because he was frequently seen in the valley wearing a U.S. Border Patrol hat. Kirchenwitz was not in the store at the time of the shooting. The bullets came through a store window that framed the space behind the store's counter where the clerk's work.
Ramirez had gone before a federal judge in 2003 and was found to be in the country illegally, officials said. He was given the option of a "voluntary departure" and given a deadline to leave the country by September 2003.
"He didn't leave," said Counts.
According to Counts, Ramirez was arrested in Glenwood Springs some time in 2004, which led to his October 2004 deportation.
But Glenwood Springs Police Chief Terry Wilson could only find one record for Ramirez, and that was a contact in February 2006 when Ramirez was with someone else who was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Garfield County Sheriff's Office records show two items related to Ramirez, who is in their system as Ricardo Ramirez-Cruz, sheriff spokeswoman Tanny McGinnis said.
On Oct. 16, 2003, Ramirez was issued a ticket by the sheriff's office on County Road 100 in Garfield County for speeding, driving without a valid driver's license and for not having proper insurance.
Then, on Sept. 22, 2004, Ramirez was escorted from the Garfield County Courthouse to the Garfield County Jail and deported the very next month.
McGinnis wasn't able to verify why Ramirez was appearing at the courthouse, but said the office's records indicated there was a "failure to comply."
According to Basalt Police Chief Keith Ikeda, Ramirez had recently been living in El Jebel at his father's residence. He is thought to have a wife, but no children, who stayed with him in El Jebel but didn't necessarily live there.
Ramirez was employed in the oil and natural gas sector in the Meeker and Rifle areas, police have said.
He was last seen driving a 1996 Honda sedan, either tan or gold in color, bearing Colorado license plate 070 ESN, which police say closely resembles the description of the vehicle leaving the scene of the 7-Eleven shooting, at a high rate of speed.
Law enforcement agencies in the Roaring Fork Valley and in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties have been trying to locate and arrest Ramirez without success.
He is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds, with brown eyes and very short black hair, according to police.
Ikeda said he is currently working with ICE on two federal warrants for Ramirez that could bring charges of illegal entry to the United States and being an illegal immigrant in possession of a firearm.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also working with the Basalt Police Department on a warrant related to "unlawful flight to avoid prosecution," which is the type of warrant typically issued when it is thought a suspect has crossed state lines, according to Ikeda.
bgs@aspendailynews.com
