Suspects in 2 separate homicides arrested at the border


By Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE BREAKING NEWS TEAM

3:29 p.m. February 18, 2008

SAN DIEGO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents arrested two men suspected of separate homicides at the border Sunday afternoon, officials said.
Both men presented border agents with identification as they tried to cross into the U.S. from Mexico.

Agents said Tracy Alan Bartlett, 44, of Encino, was wanted by Pasadena police on a $1 million warrant for homicide. He drove a 1997 Mercury Mountaineer with California license plates to the San Ysidro port of entry about 1 p.m.

Agents said a check of his U.S. passport indicated there was a felony warrant issued for him by Pasadena police.

Bartlett, a U.S. citizen, was questioned at secondary inspection lot before agents confirmed his identity through an automated fingerprint system and he was arrested.

About two hours later, Jose Javier Cruz, 32, of San Bernardino, entered the port of entry in Tecate as a passenger in a 2004 Dodge Intrepid. Cruz, also a U.S. citizen, had an outstanding $75,000 warrant from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department for homicide.

He was arrested after his identity was confirmed during a secondary inspection.

Both men were booked into the county jail downtown.

Border agents said the arrests were among 14 made during the weekend at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry. The other arrests included parole and narcotics violations and sexual assaults.

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