Post by Okwes on Jun 2, 2008 11:07:37 GMT -5
Man, woman shot by deputies on Soboba reservation abandoned car, hid
May 15, 2008
www.pe.com/localnews/indianaffairs/stories/PE_News_Local_D_soboba\
15.3e6e034.html
<http://www.pe.com/localnews/indianaffairs/stories/PE_News_Local_D_sobob\
a15.3e6e034.html>
The Soboba tribal members shot by SWAT officers in a remote area of the
reservation Monday abandoned their vehicle along a dirt road and were
hiding behind a tree before they were killed during an exchange of
gunfire, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dean Spivacke said Wednesday.
A man and woman were shot multiple times after one of them fired at
deputies who had tracked the pair to an isolated section of the
reservation in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains, authorities
said.
Sheriff's deputies identified the man as Joseph Arres, 36. Family
members identified the woman as Tamara Angela Hurtado. She was known to
the Sheriff's Department as Angelica Lopez, 30, said sheriff's spokesman
Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez.
William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise Lorina Duro, left,
and Virginia Duenaz, right, both with Lighthouse Ministry, pray
Wednesday with Gary Hurtado, the father of Tamara Angela Hurtado, who
was killed in a Monday shootout.
Spivacke said investigators were piecing together what happened in the
shooting incident Monday. More details have come together through
interviews with deputies and witnesses, and evidence collected on the
reservation east of San Jacinto.
Parking-lot Memorial
On Wednesday evening, about 100 people gathered outside St. Joseph's
Soboba Mission Church for a service to honor tribal members killed.
Friends and families placed flowers and photographs at a memorial just
off the church parking lot.
"God has good plans for the future of this reservation, and we should
pray that what is bad right now will come to a stop," said Gabriel Ward,
pastor of the Body of Christ Church at Torres Martinez. He was one of a
handful of ministers who came to offer help and grief counseling.
Several who spoke in the hourlong ceremony said that unity is the most
important thing the tribe needed.
Gary Hurtado, father of the woman killed by gunfire Monday night, said
that there was great sadness on the reservation. He saw his daughter
Tamara just a few days before the shooting, Hurtado said.
"She was a nice person," Hurtado said. "She had a lot of love. She was a
housewife and the mother of a 9-year-old son."
A wake for Eli Morillo is scheduled for Friday, followed by a memorial
service Saturday, said the Rev. Earl Henley, pastor/chaplain of the
Native American Ministry at the reservation. Morillo, 26, was shot to
death in a gun battle with sheriff's deputies on the reservation May 8,
authorities said.
Services for the other tribal members are pending, he added.
Warrant Issued
At the time of his death, Arres was wanted on an arrest warrant with
bail set at $1 million, according to Riverside County Superior Court
records. Arres pleaded guilty Feb. 20 to charges in two 2006 cases that
he was a convicted felon or narcotics addict in possession of a firearm.
As part of the pleas, Arres faced a two-year prison term in each case to
run concurrently, according to court records. But he failed to show up
in court for a sentencing hearing April 29 and a judge issued a warrant
for his arrest.
Hours after he was killed, fire gutted Arres' mobile home in San
Jacinto. Cal Fire had not determined the cause of Tuesday's blaze as of
Wednesday evening.
Story continues below William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise
Lorina Duro, center, and Virginia Duenaz, right, pray during a memorial
service for members of the Soboba tribe killed during a shootout Monday
on the reservation.
More Details Released
Deputies were responding to 911 callers who reported about 6:20 p.m.
that the tribe's security booth located near the Soboba Casino had been
hit by gunfire. There were also reports -- later determined to be
incorrect -- that a security guard had been shot.
Spivacke said deputies arrived at the guard station and watched as a
Honda Accord approached from the south on Soboba Road. Someone got out
of the vehicle and fired at deputies from about 200 feet away, Spivacke
said. Four deputies returned fire and the gunman got back into the
Accord, which sped away south on Soboba Road, Spivacke said. None of the
deputies were injured.
The deputies stayed at their location as the Accord turned northeast on
Castile Canyon Road. A sheriff's helicopter joined the chase, Spivacke
said, and the vehicle stopped several times and fired at the chopper.
The helicopter was not struck.
Spivacke said Arres telephoned relatives or friends and told them about
what was happening. Spivacke did not know details of the conversations.
The Accord raced along a dirt road at the end of Castile Canyon Road and
continued for about three miles. Spivacke said the pair abandoned the
vehicle and stopped at a tree between 75 and 100 feet away.
About an hour after the initial exchange of gunfire, the department's
SWAT team found the Accord. Using lights from the police vehicles to
illuminate the area, deputies spotted the pair and ordered them to drop
their weapons. One of them fired and five of the deputies shot back.
Spivacke said investigators do not know whether either one was injured
during the initial exchange with deputies or why the pair abandoned the
car. "There was a gap between the time of the initial shooting and the
second exchange," Spivacke said. "They had a big head start."
Story continues below Tamara Angela Hurtado
Cal Fire Policy Change
Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire
Department, said department officials decided last week against sending
emergency responders onto the reservation unless they are escorted or
cleared by law enforcement first.
"We've re-enacted our standard procedure," she said. "That is, whenever
we're responding to a potentially hostile environment, such as an
assault or shooting, we don't go in without law enforcement clearing the
scene for us first. For right now, it's still a very hostile environment
on the reservation, and we're going to prevent putting our people at
risk."
Hutchinson said department officials also are concerned about some
"credible threats" made earlier this year against firefighters. She did
not have specifics.
Hutchinson said there have been instances when law enforcement had to
sequester firefighters for their safety when tempers flared on the
reservation.
"We felt there was the potential for false calls that were going to put
our public safety personnel at risk," she said.
The policy was in place earlier this year following a series of violent
incidents on the reservation, but later rescinded.
Lines of Communication
A meeting has been scheduled between representatives of the Soboba
tribe, Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Bureau of Indian
Affairs as a way to ease tensions following the recent deaths of three
tribal members at the hands of deputies.
The meeting, which may take place Friday, was requested by the federal
agency and will include a representative from the office of Rep. Jerry
Lewis, R-Redlands, said Jim Specht, communications director for the
congressman in Washington, D.C.
"The hope is to open lines of communication," said Specht. "The
congressman is very concerned about the tribe getting along with the
community."
Wealth, Gangs, Crime
Southern California tribal leaders, including Soboba's Salgado, met
Saturday to talk about gangs and drug problems on reservations, said
Manuel Hamilton, vice chairman of the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians
near Anza.
The leaders met at the San Manuel Indian reservation -- which has been
plagued by gang-related crimes -- for what they hope will be the first
of many such meetings focused on fighting the problems as a group,
Hamilton said Tuesday.
He said drugs, poor parenting skills and wealth in idle hands have
fueled crime on reservations.
"People have lost the ability to have any work ethic," he said. "We're
imploding upon ourselves."
May 15, 2008
www.pe.com/localnews/indianaffairs/stories/PE_News_Local_D_soboba\
15.3e6e034.html
<http://www.pe.com/localnews/indianaffairs/stories/PE_News_Local_D_sobob\
a15.3e6e034.html>
The Soboba tribal members shot by SWAT officers in a remote area of the
reservation Monday abandoned their vehicle along a dirt road and were
hiding behind a tree before they were killed during an exchange of
gunfire, Riverside County sheriff's Sgt. Dean Spivacke said Wednesday.
A man and woman were shot multiple times after one of them fired at
deputies who had tracked the pair to an isolated section of the
reservation in the foothills of the San Jacinto Mountains, authorities
said.
Sheriff's deputies identified the man as Joseph Arres, 36. Family
members identified the woman as Tamara Angela Hurtado. She was known to
the Sheriff's Department as Angelica Lopez, 30, said sheriff's spokesman
Sgt. Dennis Gutierrez.
William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise Lorina Duro, left,
and Virginia Duenaz, right, both with Lighthouse Ministry, pray
Wednesday with Gary Hurtado, the father of Tamara Angela Hurtado, who
was killed in a Monday shootout.
Spivacke said investigators were piecing together what happened in the
shooting incident Monday. More details have come together through
interviews with deputies and witnesses, and evidence collected on the
reservation east of San Jacinto.
Parking-lot Memorial
On Wednesday evening, about 100 people gathered outside St. Joseph's
Soboba Mission Church for a service to honor tribal members killed.
Friends and families placed flowers and photographs at a memorial just
off the church parking lot.
"God has good plans for the future of this reservation, and we should
pray that what is bad right now will come to a stop," said Gabriel Ward,
pastor of the Body of Christ Church at Torres Martinez. He was one of a
handful of ministers who came to offer help and grief counseling.
Several who spoke in the hourlong ceremony said that unity is the most
important thing the tribe needed.
Gary Hurtado, father of the woman killed by gunfire Monday night, said
that there was great sadness on the reservation. He saw his daughter
Tamara just a few days before the shooting, Hurtado said.
"She was a nice person," Hurtado said. "She had a lot of love. She was a
housewife and the mother of a 9-year-old son."
A wake for Eli Morillo is scheduled for Friday, followed by a memorial
service Saturday, said the Rev. Earl Henley, pastor/chaplain of the
Native American Ministry at the reservation. Morillo, 26, was shot to
death in a gun battle with sheriff's deputies on the reservation May 8,
authorities said.
Services for the other tribal members are pending, he added.
Warrant Issued
At the time of his death, Arres was wanted on an arrest warrant with
bail set at $1 million, according to Riverside County Superior Court
records. Arres pleaded guilty Feb. 20 to charges in two 2006 cases that
he was a convicted felon or narcotics addict in possession of a firearm.
As part of the pleas, Arres faced a two-year prison term in each case to
run concurrently, according to court records. But he failed to show up
in court for a sentencing hearing April 29 and a judge issued a warrant
for his arrest.
Hours after he was killed, fire gutted Arres' mobile home in San
Jacinto. Cal Fire had not determined the cause of Tuesday's blaze as of
Wednesday evening.
Story continues below William Wilson Lewis III/The Press-Enterprise
Lorina Duro, center, and Virginia Duenaz, right, pray during a memorial
service for members of the Soboba tribe killed during a shootout Monday
on the reservation.
More Details Released
Deputies were responding to 911 callers who reported about 6:20 p.m.
that the tribe's security booth located near the Soboba Casino had been
hit by gunfire. There were also reports -- later determined to be
incorrect -- that a security guard had been shot.
Spivacke said deputies arrived at the guard station and watched as a
Honda Accord approached from the south on Soboba Road. Someone got out
of the vehicle and fired at deputies from about 200 feet away, Spivacke
said. Four deputies returned fire and the gunman got back into the
Accord, which sped away south on Soboba Road, Spivacke said. None of the
deputies were injured.
The deputies stayed at their location as the Accord turned northeast on
Castile Canyon Road. A sheriff's helicopter joined the chase, Spivacke
said, and the vehicle stopped several times and fired at the chopper.
The helicopter was not struck.
Spivacke said Arres telephoned relatives or friends and told them about
what was happening. Spivacke did not know details of the conversations.
The Accord raced along a dirt road at the end of Castile Canyon Road and
continued for about three miles. Spivacke said the pair abandoned the
vehicle and stopped at a tree between 75 and 100 feet away.
About an hour after the initial exchange of gunfire, the department's
SWAT team found the Accord. Using lights from the police vehicles to
illuminate the area, deputies spotted the pair and ordered them to drop
their weapons. One of them fired and five of the deputies shot back.
Spivacke said investigators do not know whether either one was injured
during the initial exchange with deputies or why the pair abandoned the
car. "There was a gap between the time of the initial shooting and the
second exchange," Spivacke said. "They had a big head start."
Story continues below Tamara Angela Hurtado
Cal Fire Policy Change
Julie Hutchinson, spokeswoman for Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire
Department, said department officials decided last week against sending
emergency responders onto the reservation unless they are escorted or
cleared by law enforcement first.
"We've re-enacted our standard procedure," she said. "That is, whenever
we're responding to a potentially hostile environment, such as an
assault or shooting, we don't go in without law enforcement clearing the
scene for us first. For right now, it's still a very hostile environment
on the reservation, and we're going to prevent putting our people at
risk."
Hutchinson said department officials also are concerned about some
"credible threats" made earlier this year against firefighters. She did
not have specifics.
Hutchinson said there have been instances when law enforcement had to
sequester firefighters for their safety when tempers flared on the
reservation.
"We felt there was the potential for false calls that were going to put
our public safety personnel at risk," she said.
The policy was in place earlier this year following a series of violent
incidents on the reservation, but later rescinded.
Lines of Communication
A meeting has been scheduled between representatives of the Soboba
tribe, Riverside County Sheriff's Department and Bureau of Indian
Affairs as a way to ease tensions following the recent deaths of three
tribal members at the hands of deputies.
The meeting, which may take place Friday, was requested by the federal
agency and will include a representative from the office of Rep. Jerry
Lewis, R-Redlands, said Jim Specht, communications director for the
congressman in Washington, D.C.
"The hope is to open lines of communication," said Specht. "The
congressman is very concerned about the tribe getting along with the
community."
Wealth, Gangs, Crime
Southern California tribal leaders, including Soboba's Salgado, met
Saturday to talk about gangs and drug problems on reservations, said
Manuel Hamilton, vice chairman of the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Indians
near Anza.
The leaders met at the San Manuel Indian reservation -- which has been
plagued by gang-related crimes -- for what they hope will be the first
of many such meetings focused on fighting the problems as a group,
Hamilton said Tuesday.
He said drugs, poor parenting skills and wealth in idle hands have
fueled crime on reservations.
"People have lost the ability to have any work ethic," he said. "We're
imploding upon ourselves."