Posted on 10/27/2007 10:17:49 AM PDT by SandRat
DOUGLAS — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said the alleged drug smuggler shot by an officer on Thursday belongs to a drug trafficking organization that has resorted to ramming law enforcement vehicles a total of three times in four days in order to escape apprehension in the Douglas area.
An ICE officer shot Ramon Davalos-Lopez, 41, on Thursday because he was driving a stolen pickup truck in a manner that was endangering the lives of law enforcement officials pursuing him, said Carol Capas, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office.
Vincent Picard, public affairs officer for ICE, said a suspected smuggler from the same organization rammed pursuing Border Patrol units while fleeing back to Mexico on Monday, and a smuggler intentionally rammed a Douglas police officer’s truck to evade authorities on Wednesday.
“There is definitely a pattern,” he said during a phone interview Friday.
Thursday’s incident started when Davalos-Lopez began traveling at a high rate of speed and erratically driving through residential neighborhoods and school zones while fleeing agents of ICE, Border Patrol and Douglas Police Department.
“After agents attempted to stop the vehicle with tire deflation devices, the driver of the vehicle drove towards the patrol vehicles and agents in a threatening manner before continuing northbound,” Capas said in a press release on Friday.
“One of the ICE agents was able to position his vehicle in front of the suspect while Border Patrol agents were behind it. After determining the suspect was further endangering the law enforcement agents, the ICE agent fired his service weapon striking the suspect in the right arm,” she continues.
Once the vehicle was stopped, Davalos-Lopez was treated for non-life-threatening wounds and airlifted to a Tucson hospital for treatment. He was arrested by ICE.
The incident ended near mile post 4 on Geronimo Trail east of Douglas. The Sheriff’s Office was advised of the incident at about 1:45 p.m. Thursday.
Mile post 4 is located in a rural area. Geronimo Trail is paved eastbound until around mile post 2, at which point it becomes a gravel road.
The only items that remained at the scene Friday morning were some yellow police tape, six surgical gloves, some gauze and four 1-gallon plastic bottles that were half filled with water.
Following the incident, authorities discovered more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana in the truck driven by Davalos-Lopez, Picard said.
The vehicle was recovered by the Sheriff’s Office and will be kept until the conclusion of the investigation, Capas said.
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
(I mean the border agent that is...)
Ping!
Preliminary statements from CCSO indicate it was a justified shoot.
12 - 15 given the Looniness of OBLIBERAL Judges?
Ring my bell when the USBP agent is indicted.
Wow, amazing he could get through to a U.S. Attorney on his cell phone to get permission to discharge his weapon that fast. ( /s... I think)
Authorities ID entrant, 41, shot in border pursuit
By Dale Quinn
Arizona Daily Star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.27.2007
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office on Friday identified a suspected drug smuggler who was shot and injured by a federal agent Thursday afternoon.
Ramon Davalos-Lopez, 41, an illegal entrant, was shot east of Douglas after he fled from authorities in a stolen vehicle loaded with more than 800 pounds of marijuana, said Carol Capas, a sheriff's spokeswoman.
The shooting occurred about 1:45 p.m.
Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Border Patrol, along with the Douglas Police Department, observed Davalos-Lopez in a pickup truck while investigating a drug-smuggling organization, said Vincent Picard, an ICE spokesman.
Davalos-Lopez noticed he was under surveillance and fled, Picard said. According to a press release from the sheriff's department, Davalos-Lopez sped and drove erratically through residential areas and school zones, so authorities tried to use a spike-strip to deflate the truck's tires and stop him.
Afterward, Davalos-Lopez continued to drive threateningly toward patrol vehicles and agents. An ICE agent, whose name has not been released, was able to position himself in front of the truck while Border Patrol agents were behind it.
After determining Davalos-Lopez still posed a threat to law enforcement, he fired, according to the release.
Davalos-Lopez was shot in the right arm and taken to a Tucson hospital, the release says. He was later arrested by ICE agents after authorities found more than 800 pounds of marijuana in the truck.
"This is the third incident in four days in which this drug organization has resorted to ramming law enforcement vehicles in order to escape," Picard said.
On Monday, a suspected smuggler from the same organization slammed a vehicle into pursuing Border Patrol agents while fleeing to Mexico, Picard said.
On Wednesday another suspected smuggler attempted to run down Douglas police officers, Picard said.
The investigation into the drug-trafficking organization is ongoing, Picard said.
The ICE office of professional standards and the sheriff's department are investigating the shooting.
● Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.
LOL
Hm, the wildfire arsonist shot to death in San Bernardino rammed the LEOs’ car, too. No obvious illegal-immigration connection there, but it is still an interesting pattern.
LOL. Just wait til the Mex consulate calls Dubya to demand and investigation. Just hope it’s not in Johnny Sutton’s jurisdiction.
Airbag deployment, if they can get the airbag to go off then the cops are not suppose to pursue you at high speed then. It has been happening a lot in urban settings with stolen cars, ram the police car with the back of yours, get the airbag to fire off, and then run away.
I traveled through Douglas last week on vacation. There are a number of border patrol checkpoints set up many miles inland in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona that my party had to stop for. And we naturally saw many b-p vehicles. Didn’t see any suspicious looking vehicles full of illegals.
paging Johnny Sutton
Indeed it is an interesting pattern- it is the result of getting their own way for so long in this country that they now feel they are entitled to break our laws, and we should not dare to stop them. Amazing the amount of arrogance is shown in the act of ramming LEO vehicles. We also place so many restrictions on what CBP or other LEO can actually do when dealing w/border crime that smugglers feel they can get away with anything.
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