Sheriff's deputies arrest one of 'America's Most Wanted'
A woman recently profiled on the television show “America’s Most Wanted” has been arrested by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in Bellflower.
Liza Monica Gonzales, 36, was wanted on suspicion of being an accessory and conspiracy to commit murder in Oklahoma. She allegedly has ties to a gang in Compton, said Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
The arrest came after deputies on patrol were using a device that automatically scans license plates and checks them for outstanding warrants. About 5:30 p.m. Friday, the device flagged a license plate near the 17000 block of Clark Avenue, which revealed that there was a felony warrant for Gonzales’ arrest, Whitmore said.
After deputies began to search the area, they found the suspect at a nearby Budget Inn. After they questioned her, “she finally admitted she was Liza Gonzales,” Whitmore said. “She told the deputy that she was just tired of running.”
Gonzales was taken into custody at 6 p.m. She was being held without bail at the sheriff’s station in Lakewood, and is awaiting extradition by the U.S. marshals office in Oklahoma.
According to a case profile on the website of "America’s Most Wanted," authorities allege that Gonzales is an active member of the Compton Varrio Tortilla Flats Gang, which profits from sales of methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.
The website said Gonzales helped lead one of the gang’s factions that operated in Oklahoma City and that she and others helped orchestrate drug deals. She is accused with two other men of planning the killing of a rival gang member, Eliceo Chavira, who was slain on the front porch of his Oklahoma City home on June 21, 2003. Gonzales allegedly was the getaway driver.
Authorities apprehended the other two suspects after the slaying, but Gonzales has been on the run since 2003. At the time, authorities believed that she fled to the Los Angeles area with her children.
—Rong-Gong Lin II
Photo: U.S. Marshals Service
Wow! Ain't she a beauty! deport now please.
Posted by: Anon | June 21, 2009 at 06:07 AM
NOW we're winning the drug war! Who would've thought it'd be so easy?
Posted by: John | June 21, 2009 at 08:18 AM
On the run since '03!!!!!! You bet she's tired!!!!
Let this be a lesson to us all, just because they didn't catch you right away, don't relax, they will....
Posted by: Lois | June 21, 2009 at 11:20 AM
She's not the person AMW is making her out to be. She got caught up with the wrong people - dangerous people! She ran cuz she feared for her life. This girl has a good heart and couldn't hurt a fly, and it will all come out in court! Deport? I don't think so! Liza was born in the USA and worked for several attorneys and is respected by all those who knew her.
Posted by: Unknown | July 14, 2009 at 07:44 AM