Man wanted on rape charge caught entering from Mexico
By BRAD WONG
P-I REPORTER
A fugitive who is suspected of raping a teenage girl from Kent was caught near the Mexico border and will be returned to King County, officials said Thursday.
Border Patrol agents caught Leopoldo Aparicio Lopez, 24, around 8:30 p.m. Monday as he re-entered the United States in the Sonoita area of Arizona, said Shannon Stevens, an agency spokeswoman.
Last year, King County prosecutors filed a charge of third-degree child rape against him for allegedly having sex with a 15-year-old girl, according to court papers.
At the time of the act, Lopez was 23, police reported. The girl told her mother and Kent police that she was pregnant.
On Monday, a Border Patrol agent spotted a group of six people trying to cross into the country, Stevens said.
When the agent identified himself, Lopez ran. A Customs and Border Protection helicopter arrived and another agent joined the chase, she said.
An unmanned Customs and Border Protection aircraft also detected the group. Lopez, who was found in the brush, scuffled with agents before they subdued him. During processing a fingerprint check revealed that he was wanted in King County, Stevens said.
When agents processed him, they realized he was a fugitive wanted in King County. A check of his fingerprints revealed the link, she said.
As of Thursday morning, Lopez was in the Santa Cruz County Jail.
He told authorities that he lives in Mexico City.
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