Thread: Suspect killed after shootings and chase; 3 found dead in Cleburn

Second article from March 2011. The same guy was referenced as a Mexican Drug supplier and busted.


Suspect killed after shootings and chase; 3 found dead in Cleburne Co.; Officer injured
Dec 15, 2012 | 35488
Anniston Star Staff

Police shot and killed a man today after he led authorities on a chase from Cleburne County to Oxford to Coldwater, leaving in his wake three deaths, an injured child, an injured police officer, several crashed cars and a trail of spent shell casings.

In Coldwater, where the chase came to its end this afternoon, a body could be seen lying in the road, covered with a sheet. In Cleburne County, where the events began this morning, authorities were working to identity three bodies from a crime scene in a trailer park.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown identified the dead man this evening as Romero Roberto Moya, 33, of Heflin.

Authorities have not said explicitly that Moya was responsible for the deaths of three people at the trailer park. But they said he was the man who police chased after officers in Heflin began looking for the shooter.

Sheriff's deputies arrived at the trailer park, south of Heflin on Alabama 9, sometime around 10 a.m. Investigator Dennis Green of the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said tonight that the three dead there were all Hispanic males; he said authorities were not certain of their ages. Additionally, a child younger than two had been injured and was flown to a Georgia hospital, Green said. The child's mother was also at the trailer park, but was unharmed, Green said. No other information on the child's condition was immediately available.

Authorities earlier had said a woman and two children had been shot at the Cleburne County scene; Green's information conflicted with those reports.

Green said Cleburne County deputies arrived at the trailer park this morning to investigate a report of a suspicious person. Some time after that, deputies began chasing a man who had driven away from there into Oxford, where Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge said the suspect crashed a car on the interchange of U.S. 78 and Leon Smith Parkway, in the middle of a busy retail district near an interchange with Interstate 20.

There, officers reportedly exchanged gunfire with the suspect. Partridge said the suspect used an AK47 assault rifle in the gunfight, injuring a Heflin police officer. That officer was reported to be in critical condition at Regional Medical Center this afternoon, according to Partridge and authorities in Cleburne County.

The suspect then forced his way into a Nissan at the intersection, police said. The car's occupants were able to exit the vehicle before the suspect sped away.

Police issued alerts to be on the lookout for the stolen car, a 1997 Nissan 200 SX. That car was later spotted on Bynum-Leatherwood Road, and authorities gave chase as it sped to Alabama 202, then to near U.S. 78 in the Coldwater area, Partridge said.

That’s where the Nissan crashed into a Toyota Corolla, near U.S. 78’s intersection with Beck Road.

As the suspect exited the Nissan, Partridge said, he reached for the assault rifle, and two members of the Oxford police SWAT team shot and killed him.

Moya's body lay in the roadway on U.S. 78 there this afternoon, next to the Nissan, its driver-side door marked with bullet holes.

The woman driving the Toyota received minor injuries in the crash, Partridge said.

In Heflin this afternoon, authorities at City Hall would confirm only that a police officer was injured and being treated at RMC in Anniston.

Investigators in Cleburne County said the Alabama Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the shootings there.

Oxford police Lt. L.G. Owens said agencies involved in the incidents today included Oxford and Heflin police, the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama State Troopers, and the Calhoun-Cleburne County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.

Surveillance nabs two and a kilogram of cocaine
Mar 03, 2011

A Wellington man and an Oxford man face criminal charges for trafficking in cocaine after police arrested them during a surveillance operation in Oxford Monday. Wellington resident Jesus Soria Silva, 31, and Oxford resident Romero Roberto Moya, 31, were arrested Monday evening in the parking lot of the Home Depot in Oxford, according to a press release from the Calhoun-Cleburne County Drug and Violent Crime Task Force.

Investigators with the drug task force said in the release that Silva and Moya had a kilogram of cocaine — which has an approximate street value of $30,000 — in their possession when they were arrested. Investigators on the scene detained Silva and Moya after they observed Silva remove that cocaine from Moya’s 2000 Ford Focus, the press release said.

Investigators also said they located twelve grams of methamphetamine and a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol that was found to be fully loaded under a car seat.

Drug task force members, Oxford police’s Narcotics Unit and the Birmingham Police Department Narcotics Unit conducted the Monday night surveillance together, after learning that “two Mexican drug suppliers would be meeting with a customer of a Birmingham drug trafficking organization to purchase multiple kilograms of cocaine,” the press release said. Police also discovered the meeting was scheduled to occur in the Home Depot parking lot and decided to set up surveillance there Monday, the release said.

It was unclear Wednesday how investigators obtained information about the drug deal and when exactly it occurred.

Silva and Moya were in the Calhoun County Jail each on $100,000 cash bonds Wednesday.
Read more:Anniston Star - Surveillance nabs two and a kilogram of cocaine

Two suspected drug suppliers busted in East Alabama

Posted: Mar 02, 2011By Ainsley Allison - email

Two suspected drug suppliers are off the streets as the result of a joint investigation between authorities in East Alabama and Birmingham.
Jose Soria Silvia and Romero Roberto Moya were arrested Monday in Oxford at the Home Depot. Authorities say they learned that's where the two would meet with a "customer" of a drug trafficking organization. A kilo of cocaine, twelve grams of " ICE" and a semi-automatic pistol were seized during the bust.
The two face charges for Trafficking in Cocaine, Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine and weapons charges. They are in the Calhoun County Jail on a $100,000.00 cash bond.

Mug shots at link.

Two suspected drug suppliers busted in East Alabama - ABC 33/40 - Birmingham News, Weather, Sports

Updated.

Suspect killed after shootings and chase; 3 found dead in Cleburne Co.; Officer injured
Dec 15, 2012

Police shot a man dead Saturday after he led authorities on a chase from Cleburne County to Oxford to Coldwater, leaving in his wake three deaths, an injured child, an injured police officer, several crashed cars and a trail of spent shell casings.

In Coldwater, where the chase ended in the early afternoon, a body lay in the road beneath a sheet. In Cleburne County, where the chain of events began that morning, authorities were working to identify three bodies at a crime scene in a trailer park.

Calhoun County Coroner Pat Brown identified the dead man in Coldwater later Saturday as Roberto Moya, 33. Authorities did not say explicitly Saturday that Moya was responsible for the deaths of three people at the Guzman Trailer Park south of Heflin, but they said he was the man who’d led police on a chase that began after officers there began looking for the shooter.

Cleburne County sheriff's deputies arrived at the trailer park, seven miles south of Heflin on Alabama 9, sometime around 10 a.m. Investigator Dennis Green of the Cleburne County Sheriff's Office said Saturday night that the three dead there were all Hispanic males but that authorities were uncertain of their ages. Green said the shooter was likely the brother of the victims but officials don’t know that for sure.

“We think we know who they are but we don’t have a positive ID at this time,” he said.

A child younger than age 2 had also been injured, and was later flown to a Georgia hospital, Green said. The child's mother also was at the trailer park, but was unharmed, Green said. No other information on the child's condition was immediately available.

The chase

Some time later Cleburne County authorities began chasing a man driving a black sedan. The chase led to Oxford, where Oxford police Chief Bill Partridge said the man crashed the car at U.S. 78 and Jimmy Hinton Drive, in the middle of a busy retail district near an interchange with Interstate 20.

Partridge said officers exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who fired an AK-47 assault rifle, injuring a Heflin police officer. The officer was taken to Regional Medical Center. A post on the Heflin Police Department Facebook page Saturday night identified the officer as Jackie Stovall.

"He's got a long, tough road to recovery ahead of him," read the post, attributed to A.J. Benefield, the interim police chief.

The gunman ran to a Nissan coupe stopped at the intersection, pulled the occupants from the car and drove it north into Anniston on Leon Smith Parkway, police said.

About two hours later the Nissan was spotted driving south on Bynum-Leatherwood Road, initiating another multi-agency chase, Partridge said. That chase led south and west on Alabama 202 in the Coldwater area, then onto Taylors Chapel Road and Beck Road, then south to U.S. 78, Partridge said.

That’s where the Nissan crashed into a Toyota Corolla, near U.S. 78’s intersection with Beck Road, where members of the Oxford police SWAT team were waiting.

As Moya exited the Nissan, Partridge said, he reached for the assault rifle, and two SWAT team members shot and killed him.

“He confronted our officers by exiting the vehicle in a threatening manner,” Partridge said.

Moya’s body lay in the roadway on U.S. 78 Saturday afternoon, next to the Nissan, its driver-side door marked with bullet holes.

The woman driving the Toyota received minor injuries in the crash, Partridge said.

In Heflin on Saturday afternoon, authorities at City Hall would confirm only that a police officer was injured and being treated at RMC in Anniston.

The investigation

Investigators combed carefully over the sites in Oxford, Coldwater and Cleburne County throughout the day on Saturday.

Yellow police tape circled the black sedan in Oxford, its rear end smashed into the rear end of a white SUV. Nearby sat an empty Heflin police cruiser, its blue lights flashing, its driver-side door hanging open. Police officers surrounded the crash site and picked over the scene, marking spent shell casings from the gunfight with yellow placards.

Authorities directed traffic away from the Coldwater scene at least a quarter mile from the crash site. Police cars lined both sides of the highway.

Within another police-tape perimeter, the stolen Nissan and the Toyota sat empty just off the road. The the rear passenger-side door of the Corolla was crumpled like paper from the impact.

Nearby, residents clustered on their lawns and watched as police collected evidence and again marked shell casings with yellow placards.

The gunman’s body lay on the pavement, covered by a white sheet for much of the afternoon, only his black-and-red Nike tennis shoes exposed.

In Cleburne County, sheriff’s deputies blocked a driveway across from a Tyson chicken plant on a rural stretch of Alabama 9 south of Interstate 20, just north of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church and the Emrick-Nolan Feed & Seed store. The area is dotted with houses and mobile homes. The driveway, marked by a sign labeled “Guzman Trailers Park,” led up a hill to where officials investigated the crime scene. Vehicles entered and exited the scene throughout the afternoon, including a wrecker that hauled away an older-model pickup truck.

Investigators in Cleburne County said the Alabama Bureau of Investigations is leading the inquiry into the shootings there. Green, the Cleburne sheriff’s investigator, said the shooting there stemmed from an incident of domestic violence.

Green said a number of agencies responded to the several scenes related to this incident, including Anniston police, who arrived in Cleburne County with a mobile crime scene unit.

Meanwhile, up the road from the trailer park, invesigators collected evidence in front of Millwork Sales & Surplus, a company whose sign advertised doors, windows, molding and columns. Green said that crime scene stemmed from the shooting at the trailer park.

Oxford police said other agencies involved in the incidents there today included Heflin police, the Cleburne County Sheriff’s Office, Alabama State Troopers, and the Calhoun-Cleburne County Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force.

“Everybody worked together and that made it easier on us,” Green said.

With more shootings and deaths reported in two separate incidents in Birmingham, Green said he didn’t know what to attribute such violence to.

“But that’s a tragic thing” he said. “That one yesterday in Connecticut, you think that’s something you hear about that happens somewhere else. We don’t think about it happening here in our county. But we just have to work and deal with it.”

Read more:Anniston Star - Suspect killed after shootings and chase 3 found dead in Cleburne Co Officer injured

Still no word of the immigration status of these perps?