California sanctuary law under fire after policeman Ronil Singh’s suspected killer, an illegal immigrant, is captured
- If the suspect had been deported, Corporal Ronil Singh would still be alive said the sheriff investigating Singh’s killing
A suspected drunk driver accused of fatally shooting the California police officer who pulled him over was captured on Friday as he tried to flee back to Mexico, where he lived before illegally crossing into the US, authorities said.
The sheriff whose agency was leading the investigation blamed California’s sanctuary law for preventing local authorities from reporting Gustavo Perez Arriaga to federal immigration officials for previous arrests. If the suspect had been deported, he said, Corporal Ronil Singh of the tiny Newman Police Department would still be alive.
“We can’t ignore the fact that this could have been preventable,” Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said, asking why the state was “providing sanctuary for criminals [and] gang members. It’s a conversation we need to have.”
Following a statewide manhunt, Perez Arriaga was arrested on a murder warrant in a house near Bakersfield, about 200 miles (320km) southeast of the scene of the shooting.
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As a Swat team was preparing to raid the house, Perez Arriaga came out with his hands up and surrendered. He was taken back to Stanislaus County in the slain officer’s handcuffs, Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood said.