An escaped California inmate who was wished in reference to the death of the leader of an elite Mexican police unit was arrested after a weeklong manhunt, officers stated.
Cesar Hernandez, who was serving 80 years to life for first-degree homicide earlier than escaping from custody in December, was arrested Thursday night within the northern metropolis of Tijuana. He was wished for the taking pictures demise 33-year-old Abigail Esparza Reyes, the chief of the unit generally known as “Gringo Hunters,” which dedicates itself to arresting U.S. suspects who’re fugitives in Mexico. She was the pinnacle of the unit on the northern border state of Baja California.
Esparza Reyes died throughout a shootout on April 9 in Tijuana whereas the unit was attempting to arrest Hernandez.
Mexican information retailers, together with El Universal, reported that video surveillance confirmed Hernandez managed to flee whereas operating nearly bare by means of the streets earlier than ducking underneath a tarp that was masking a automobile. He emerged wearing a fluorescent inexperienced uniform – just like ones utilized by native site visitors police – earlier than strolling away.
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“These actions mirror the excellent intelligence and investigative work carried out by personnel from the State Lawyer Common’s Workplace, whose coordinated efforts, tactical evaluation methods and information assortment made it potential to precisely find the individual arrested immediately,” the Baja California prosecutor’s workplace stated in a statement on social media Friday.
Officers in Mexico stated Hernandez is going through prison proceedings and “his authorized state of affairs can be decided in accordance with the legislation.”
Hernandez, 34, was convicted of first-degree homicide and sentenced to 80 years to life in jail, in accordance with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. He was on his strategy to Kern County Superior Courthouse for an look earlier than a decide on Dec. 2, when he jumped out of the van and evaded workers.
Esparza Reyes had led the regional group of the unit for eight years, finishing up greater than 400 operations geared toward arresting U.S. fugitives who had fled to Mexico, Reuters reported, citing Mexican authorities.
In keeping with a profile on the group by the Washington Post, Esparza Reyes grew up in Tijuana and secretly wished to be a police officer.
