Those suspects remain at large.
As HSU detectives attempted to contain the remaining five suspects in the van, one of those suspects resisted arrest and assaulted a detective with a closed fist to the mouth. Detectives learned during last night’s investigation that the suspects had paid up to $7,000 to be illegally smuggled in the U.S. The destinations of the suspects were to be
New York, New Jersey and Florida. One suspect claimed to be a Mexican national and two others said they were Guatemalan nationals. Among the group was a 15 year-old boy from Guatemala, who was turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol.
Four suspects were booked into 4th Avenue Jail on felony state charges related to Human Smuggling. Twenty seven year-old Jose Lozano-Jimenez was additionally booked for aggravated assault on law enforcement officer.
In the past five weeks, HSU Detectives have booked 29 suspects into jail for human smuggling offenses, with two of those suspects, American coyote Adam Ortiz and Lozano-Jimenez, being booked for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. Ortiz assaulted an officer during arrest on April 4, 2013.
“Human Smuggling is a violent enterprise that is now involving assaults on my officers,” said Sheriff Arpaio. “My office has arrested thousands of human smugglers over the past several years where very seldom were my deputies assaulted during those arrests. In recent times, these human smugglers are becoming more aggressive and attempting to escape and assaulting my deputies. I will ensure my Deputy Sheriffs are prepared to take appropriate action.”
The other suspects are:
Jesus Aguilar-Olan, DOB 04/13/85
Enrique Larios-Lopez, DOB 03/07/90
Esdras Chonay-Calico, DOB 06/20/94