Smuggling dispute set off chase

BOY KILLED: One of the drivers tells deputies the delivery of two illegal immigrants went awry.

10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, December 19, 2006

By JOHN F. BERRY
The Press-Enterprise

The car-to-car shooting along Interstate 15 that killed a 12-year-old Hesperia boy last week began as a dispute between two men engaged in smuggling illegal immigrants from Mexico, the driver of one of the cars told investigators.



The account, contained in reports filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court by sheriff's investigators, shows that the slain boy, Gabriel Garcia, was an innocent witness to an apparently botched illegal immigrant handoff at a Cajon Pass restaurant Dec. 11.

The reports show investigators working around the clock since the shooting, compiling numerous witness interviews and statements as well as a polygraph examination.

The fatal chase, initially described as road rage in media reports, involved two men in a white 1996 Ford Explorer twice firing bursts into a black Nissan Maxima that contained the boy as well as two illegal immigrants, the records say.

Pedro Escobedo, 43, surrendered to San Bernardino County sheriff's officials Thursday afternoon hours before the boy was removed from life support at Riverside Community Hospital.

On Friday, Escobedo pleaded not guilty to a single murder charge in a downtown San Bernardino courtroom. He is set to return to court Jan. 19.

A detective's interview with the boy's mother, identified as Elizabeth Garcia, said that earlier that afternoon, she had given her son permission to presumably spend a few hours with a family friend who drove the Nissan.

Garcia said she knew the man, identified as "Juan Gomez" in reports, through her estranged husband. She told authorities that she did not know his contact information or that he was involved in smuggling illegal immigrants.

Garcia called police the evening of Dec. 11 when her son did not return home, sheriff's reports said.

"I don't have any reason to think that boy was anything other than an innocent victim in the wrong place at the wrong time," Dwight Moore, a San Bernardino County supervising deputy district attorney, said in a telephone interview.

Key Witness

The sheriff's reports include an extensive interview and a polygraph examination ofGregorio Zuniga Hernandez, 32, identified as in illegal immigrant from Mexico who witnessed the botched handoff and ended up driving the fleeing Nissan.

His account is the only one in court records that contains a statement from a witness involved in the car chase.

Hernandez told investigators that he has been entering and leaving the United States for 10 years and that he met Juan Gomez in Whittier about noon Dec. 11. He said two illegal immigrants from Mexico were sitting in the back seat of the Nissan. He said the boy was sitting in front.

"Gomez told Hernandez that he was being paid $40 for each person he delivered to their family members," documents say. "Gomez's role was that of a middle man delivering the two illegal immigrants to the family for the coyote."

As they merged north onto Interstate 15 near the Cajon Pass, Gomez received a call to meet a man at the McDonald's restaurant at the Highway 138 exit.

At the McDonald's, Gomez met with a man from the white Ford Explorer, and a confrontation ensued, Hernandez said.

"The family of the two subjects that Gomez was supposed to deliver did not want to pay the coyote's fee at the time of delivery," the report says. "Normally, the cost of bringing the illegal immigrants across the border is collected (when they are) delivered to their family."

Hernandez told investigators that four men unexpectedly approached the Nissan, and Gomez fled on foot toward the mountains.

He said Gomez told him to flee -- and Hernandez, a licensed North Carolina driver, drove the Nissan and weaved through heavy traffic south on Interstate 15 at speeds exceeding 80 mph.

As he approached the Interstate 15-215 interchange in Devore, a passenger in the pursing Ford leaned out the passenger window and fired four or five shots, Hernandez said.

Hernandez recalled for investigators that he told his passengers to get down. He said the slain boy remained upright during the chase.

About 20 minutes later, as they fled south in Interstate 15, a different man leaned from a rear window and fired six more shots, one striking the boy in the head, Hernandez said.

Despite having a flat tire, Hernandez said he kept driving for another 20 minutes. He said the boy did not need medical attention, and he was too nervous to call police with his cellular telephone.

Hernandez said he spun out after entering a shopping center in Eastvale, near Norco.

A witness in a nearby Applebee's restaurant told Riverside County sheriff's officials that the two men in the Nissan jumped into the Explorer before it fled. A nurse attempted to help the dying boy, reports said.

Hernandez, grazed by a bullet in his upper arm, fled into a nearby department store, where he bought a new shirt and dressed in front of the cashier. He was questioned at a nearby Best Buy store, where he had fled for protection.

One Arrest

Escobedo surrendered Thursday afternoon at San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department headquarters in San Bernardino. An investigator for his attorney, Paul Opel, told officials where to find the Explorer, which they seized.

No interview was held, reports said. Opel could not be reached for comment Monday.

Reports identified Escobedo as the driver of the Explorer -- and not one of the two men who apparently had leaned out of its window and fired 13 bullets at the Nissan on Dec. 11.

Sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers said Monday that Escobedo's arrest is the only one so far.

She said illegal-immigrant smuggling has come up during the ongoing investigation.

"It's not clear if that is the motive for the shooting," Beavers said.

Moore said Monday that Hernandez provided authorities with their initial account, but investigators have more questions than answers.

"All we've got so far is the first story," Moore said. "You have to retain a healthy skepticism."

Reach John F. Berry at 909-806-3058 or jberry@PE.com

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