http://www.insidedenver.com/drmn/local/ ... 90,00.html

Mother worries about son's role with suspect
Detective says teen knew of accused cop killer's plans

By Fernando Quintero And Maria J. Avila, Rocky Mountain News
July 9, 2005

The mother of a teenager who police say drove a getaway car for accused cop killer Raul Gomez- Garcia is worried that recent testimony will result in charges being brought against her son.

Denver police Detective Martin Vigil told a court that Leopoldo Rivas, 16, drove Gomez- Garcia to a banquet hall knowing he was armed and had threatened to attack two police officers who were working at a baptismal party May 8. Rivas waited in the car until Gomez-Garcia returned from the hall in a "panicked, nervous state," and then the two drove off, Vigil testified.

The testimony came in a hearing for another man accused of helping Gomez-Garcia, who is jailed in Mexico. The information gathered by police has not led to charges against Rivas, Denver district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough said.

Still, his mother, Rosalba Rivas, is concerned. "I'm afraid for my son. He is traumatized by this whole ordeal," she said.

"Police say one thing. The media says another. All I know is that my son has told me that if he knew what Raul was going to do, he would not have gotten in the car with him. He thought Raul was simply going to go back inside (the banquet hall) to get his sister."

Police have accused Gomez- Garcia of killing Detective Donald Young and wounding Detective John Bishop, who were working off-duty but in uniform at a banquet hall on West Mississippi Avenue.

After he was denied entry to the party, police say, he returned and shot the officers.

Meanwhile, Sandra Rivas, Leopoldo's sister and girlfriend of Gomez- Garcia, said she misses Raul. She added that he has not written or called her since fleeing Denver for Los Angeles, and then to Mexico, where he was captured June 4 after a four-week manhunt. He is being held in Mexico City pending extradition.

Florencia Castañeda, Gomez- Garcia's grandmother, said Friday she had not been contacted by Denver authorities about the reward she is partly entitled to for leading Mexican authorities to her grandson in Culiacan, Mexico.

She said she would use the money to visit Gomez-Garcia.

Castañeda said she has tried to telephone her grandson but was told by an attorney that Gomez-Garcia was not allowed family contact. "They have informed us that he is doing well," she said.