Two gang members have been arrested in the shooting death of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Abel Escalante, who was gunned down outside his parents' Cypress Park home in August as he prepared to go to work, law enforcement officials announced this afternoon.
The two suspects -- Guillermo Hernandez, 20, and Carlos Velasquez, 24 -- were arrested late Friday night. They were described by Los Angeles Police Department sources as well-known members of the notorious Avenues Gang, which has long feuded with the Cypress Park gang whose territory includes the slain deputy's neighborhood. Hernandez and Velasquez were booked on murder charges and are being held without bail. Police did not say whether the shooting was a random attack or whether Escalante was targeted.
A joint task force of LAPD robbery-homicide detectives and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's homicide bureau has been investigating the case. "When one of us is brutally killed, all of us grieve," Sheriff Lee Baca said at a press conference at Parker Center. "Hopefully, this will lift some of the pain that's on your shoulders," Baca said, speaking to Escalante's family.
Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles Police Chief William Bratton speaks about the arrest of two suspects in the August slaying of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Juan Abel Escalante as Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Escalante's children look on.
Baca, along with Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and other city officials, said the arrests provided some closure to the shooting but did not signal the end of the investigation. "We are still seeking additional information," Bratton said. He added that the investigation has been "very, very, very difficult" and that police efforts were aided by tipsters.
Councilman Ed Reyes announced that at least $75,000 in reward money is still available for information leading to a prosecution in the case. According to a news release from the department, there is still "an effort to search for additional suspects that may have been involved in the murder of Escalante."
Bratton said investigators obtained a series of search and arrest warrants on Thursday and made the arrests the following day. Bratton asked for patience and said the department would be able to divulge more information after the case is filed with the Los Angeles County district attorney's office this week. Investigators have had a difficult time determining a motive for Escalante's killing.
Escalante was killed Aug. 2 as he stood near his car about 5:40 a.m. near the 3400 block of Thorpe Street. He was shot in the back of the head and did not see the assailants coming. Escalante, 27, had been a deputy for about 2 1/2 years and was assigned to the department's Men's Central Jail. He had three children and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.
He was praised by his bosses as a local success story because the Cypress Park neighborhood where he grew up was entrenched in gang warfare. At the press conference, Villaraigosa described Escalante as a young man working at a local market who made his way through high school, "rejected the conventional wisdom and defied the odds."
Escalante was the eldest son of immigrant parents from the Mexican state of Yucatan; his mother worked at a candy store and his father was a construction laborer. He had been staying with them while he and his wife prepared to buy a home in Pomona. In November, police announced a $95,000 reward for anyone with information leading to a prosecution in the case. Later in the month, Escalante's wife, Celeste, pleaded for witnesses to come forward with information.
"I know somebody saw. I know somebody heard it," said Celeste Escalante, the deputy's childhood sweetheart. "Please call and let them know what you know. Let the kids and I and my in-laws have closure . . . so we can know whoever did this is brought to justice." Early in the investigation, detectives wondered whether the shooting was related to Escalante's job at the jail, where he guarded many of the county's most dangerous inmates, including members of the Mexican Mafia.
Investigators also examined Escalante's personal life for possible clues about a motive. Then investigators considered a new scenario: that Escalante was killed by local gang members, perhaps by gunmen who did not know he was a lawman. Investigators were particularly interested in the feud between the Avenues Gang and the rival Cypress Park gang.
The Cypress Park gang's territory includes the northeast Los Angeles neighborhood where Escalante was killed. The neighborhood of modest single-family homes had experienced a lull in gang violence in recent years until rival groups began violently feuding in January. In February, a shooting outside an elementary school a few blocks from the Escalante family home sparked a fierce gun battle between gang members and police in neighboring Glassell Park.
The violence led to a raid mostly targeting the Avenues Gang in late June by police and federal agents, who stormed an area around Drew Street, about a mile north of where Escalante was killed.
"With today's arrest of gang members for the murder of Sheriff's Deputy Juan Abel Escalante, two accused killers are one step closer to justice," according to a statement released by Paul M. Weber, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. "We also hope these arrests bring a bit of peace to Deputy Escalante's family and colleagues."Police urged anyone with information about the shooting to call 1-877-LAPD-24-7.
