Official: Teen killed by agent had load of pot, was fleeing into Sonora

Fernanda Echavarri
Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star
Posted: Tuesday, March 29, 2011 9:30 am

A Douglas teen who was being chased by law enforcement officers last week was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent as the 19-year-old man climbed a ladder into Mexico, officials said.

Both Douglas police and the Border Patrol were chasing Carlos La Madrid as he and a passenger bolted for the border fence, climbing a ladder tossed over from the Sonora side, said Carol Capas, a Cochise County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman.

Neither teen threw rocks at the agent before the shooting, but a third person near the ladder was tossing rocks toward the agent, Capas said. That person was on the Mexico side and escaped.

The incident began when a Douglas police officer noticed "something suspicious" and began following the vehicle just after noon on March 21. Jesus Manuel Chino Lino, 17, of Agua Prieta, Sonora, was riding in the back of La Madrid's truck with 48 pounds of marijuana, Capas said.

La Madrid speeded away and drove toward the border, and at some point a Border Patrol agent joined the chase, Capas said.

La Madrid was shot three times as he climbed the ladder. He died later at a Sierra Vista hospital, Capas said.

Lino was booked into the Cochise County jail on suspicion of conspiracy to transport marijuana with intent to sell, and on a drug-paraphernalia charge, Capas said.

The FBI could not comment because the investigation is ongoing, a spokesman said. The Border Patrol also would not release information Monday.
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