6 arrested in connection with California cop killing by alleged illegal alien

KTVU:

The suspect accused of killing a California police officer the day after Christmas was arrested on Friday, along with his brother, co-worker and three other alleged accomplices, capping a two-day manhunt and providing a platform for the Stanislaus County Sheriff to rip into California's sanctuary laws.

Those identified in connection with the shooting death of 33-year-old Newman Police Cpl. Ronil Singh are: Gustavo Perez Arriaga, who turned 32 on Friday; his brother, Adrian Virgen, 25; and co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz, 32. All are undocumented, Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said at a Friday news conference in Modesto, Calif.

Early Wednesday morning, Singh, a narcotics officer with the canine unit, was shot to death outside a market when he pulled over a driver suspected of drunk driving. That man, now identified as Arriaga, took off and was at large until his capture Friday morning. Why Arriaga allegedly shot Singh is unclear, but the sheriff said that Arriaga had two prior DUIs and had been living in the country illegally for several years.

Arriaga is the lone gunman, taken into custody in Singh's handcuffs on a homicide charge in Bakersfield, Calif., where he had been trying to flee to Mexico, the sheriff said. Christianson also said that Arriaga, who worked on dairy farms, was a Sureno gang member and has several aliases and social media accounts. Arriaga was under surveillance for at least 24 hours, Christianson said, adding that hundreds of tips came in leading to his whereabouts in neighbhoring Kern County, about 200 miles away from the shooting.

Arriaga's brother and co-worker were arrested because they "intentionally lied to us and misled us," Christianson said. They each face a charge of being accessories after the fact to a felony.

Meanwhile, Kern Couny Sheriff Donny Youngblood held a separate news conference on Friday, announcing that three others had also been arrested, also for allegedly helping Arriaga, who was taken into custody without incident on the 8200 block of Brooks Lane in Bakersfield by the SWAT team.

Youngblood said that Bernabe Madrigal Castaneda, 59, Erasmo Villegas, 36 and Maria Luisa Moreno, 57, all of Bakersfield, were arrested on charges of aiding and abetting. Their legal status was not made public. Youngblood called Arriaga's immigration status “secondary” but he has called for "anti-sanctuary” policies in the past.
...
At the news conference, Christianson took time to address the immigration debate, showing his frustration that his department was not allowed to share information with federal immigration officials.

"We should have been allowed to report him to ICE," Christianson said. "But because of sanctuary laws we could not."

Christianson said that if Arriaga hadn't been in the country, "the outcome could have been different. Why are we providing sanctuary for criminals? For gang members?"
...

California public officials who voted for and supported the sanctuary policies should also be held accountable as accessories to the murder. Their empathy for illegal migrants is a costly policy.  It is a nonsensical policy that needs to be reversed immediately.  This crime was entirely foreseeable when the state passed and put the sanctuary policy into effect.