http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/loca ... 7859.story




Mundelein fugitive killed
Gunman caught, slain by cops in Nebraska

By Lisa Black and Andrew L. Wang, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Jeff Coen contributed to this report

June 7, 2006

A day after he shot and injured his two landlords when they tried to evict him, a fugitive from Mundelein was killed by police Tuesday as he fled west on a Nebraska highway, authorities said.

Hermelindo Rivas, 38, who police said wounded a man and a woman in a house Monday night in the 800 block of Lange Street in Mundelein, was found by the U.S. Marshals Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Tim Weber, a task force inspector.

The task force alerted the Nebraska State Patrol, which tried to stop Rivas as he headed west on Interstate Highway 80 near Elm Creek, about 150 miles west of Lincoln, Weber said.

When Rivas didn't pull over, police laid down a spike strip, which blew out the tires of his vehicle, said Mike Meyer, spokesman for the state patrol.

Rivas got out of the vehicle with a gun, fired at troopers and was shot and killed. No police officers were hurt, Weber said.

Officials were able to use investigative tools to locate Rivas, according to Nebraska police.

Mundelein Police Chief Raymond Rose said Martina Santos, 32, whom Rivas shot once in the abdomen and once in the leg, is in guarded condition at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. Abiel Alvarado, 51, was released from the hospital after being shot once in the right shoulder.

Santos' 8-year-old son, who also lives at the address, saw the shooting, police said.

Neighbors said Santos is Alvarado's sister-in-law.

Rose said Rivas was fleeing to California to stay with relatives when he was killed. A warrant for his arrest had been issued Tuesday, charging him with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm.

Rivas worked in Arlington Heights as a car mechanic and moved into the home on Lange Street about three months ago after answering a newspaper ad, Rose said.

On Monday, the owners told him to vacate the room because they had sold the house, Rose said.

"He was told to leave [Monday] and had started moving stuff out," Rose said. "There was a discussion about him leaving and the condition he left the room in."

Rivas allegedly returned to the home about 11:30 p.m. and shot both victims, one of whom called police.

Early Tuesday, police cordoned off Illinois Highway 176 between Illinois Highway 83 and Midlothian Road as they searched for Rivas at a house in the 20600 block of Park Avenue, where two of his three vehicles were located.

During the search, residents were evacuated from three nearby homes and police told dozens of other neighbors to remain inside.

A woman who was evacuated from her home was treated on the scene for a stress-related condition, said her son, Manuel Cavazos.

"They got scared," said Cavazos, adding that his father looked out into his back yard to see men with guns. "My mother has asthma and couldn't breathe."

Ruth Chamberlin woke about 6 a.m. to the sound of helicopters above her house.

"I thought, who in the heck is mowing this early in the morning?" she said.

She stepped out of her front door and saw a police officer, who said they were searching for a fugitive and told her to go into her basement.

By 9 a.m., the area was opened to traffic again.

Rose said he does not believe that Rivas, who had several aliases, was a legal U.S. citizen or a registered gun owner. Authorities were unaware of any criminal history under this name. Rivas was identified using the Mexican driver's license he had with him.

----------

lblack@tribune.com

alwang@tribune.com

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... OLO_S1.htm

Cell phone use tracked shooter
• State troopers: Wireless calls pinpointed suspect

By Frank Abderholden
STaff Writer

MUNDELEIN — Little did Hermelindo Rivas know that whenever he used his cellular telephone he was giving away his general location to police.

Nebraska State Patrol confirmed Wednesday that technology was used that tracked Rivas through his cellular telephone and that he was heading to California to his sister's house.

Rivas was wanted for shooting a man and a woman in Mundelein.

Nebraska State Patrol officers were able to pinpoint his general location on Interstate 80 and then a trooper in a vehicle spotted Rivas in his red Isuzu Trooper, one of four vehicles he owned.

"It only worked when he was making a telephone call," said Lt. Norbert Liebig. A state trooper spotted the vehicle and tried to make a traffic stop on I-80 in a rural part of Nebraska, but Rivas refused to stop.

Troopers placed two sets of spikes down on the interstate, which was shut down for nearly seven hours beginning at 3 p.m.

After running over the first set, Rivas continued to drive on the SUV's tire rims, but he slowed to 55 mph, said Liebig. When Rivas hit the second strip of spikes, he finally pulled over, he added.

The chase, which never reached speeds of 75 mph, went on for about 14 miles.

"He was asked to step out of the vehicle and he refused," said Liebig. "Negotiations went down the tube," he said, noting there were four officers on the scene.

When Rivas exited the SUV he brandished a gun, refused to drop it and fired once at the officers; they returned fire. Liebig said he did not know how many times Rivas was hit by bullets fired by the troopers. An autopsy was being performed late Wednesday.

Police shootings are a rare occurrence in Nebraska and under state law a grand jury is convened to review the case, Liebig said.

"I think it's unfortunate the person put us in that position," said the trooper. "Our job is to save lives, not take them.

"He certainly made a terrible decision," Liebig added. "Anytime you make a decision to take on four officers, there's got to be something wrong with the person. All in all, it was a bad deal. At least no one was injured."

Mundelein Police Cmdr. Eric Guenther said Wednesday police alerted the U.S. Marshal Great Lakes Regional Task Force based in Chicago once they believed Rivas was fleeing out of state.

Guenther said authorities are pretty sure Rivas left the area right after he shot Abiel Alvarado, 52, and Martina Santos, 31, at their home in the 800 block of Lange Street.

Rivas was upset because the cousins told him he had to move out because they were going to sell the home. Santos, who has a 5-year-old son, was in fair condition Wednesday at Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, a hospital spokesman said.

Rivas had also recently lost his job as a mechanic at an Arlington Heights store when it was turned into a franchise and all the employees were laid off. Police thought they may have captured him in unincorporated Lake County just outside of Mundelein on Tuesday morning when they found two of his pickup trucks.

Guenther said police did not set up roadblocks right after the shooting because when they arrived on the scene both victims needed medical attention before they could talk to them so they did not have a vehicle description or a direction of travel.

Based on where he ended up, "he couldn't have been around too much after the shooting," he said.


06/08/06