Sheriff's deputy shot to death guarded highly dangerous inmates
A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy gunned down Saturday outside his boyhood home in Cypress Park had been assigned to guard the most dangerous inmates in the county, including members of the notorious Mexican Mafia gang, authorities said Sunday.
Los Angeles police and sheriff's officials said the prospect that Deputy Juan Abel Escalante was killed because of his work at the jail remained one of three possible motives. Investigators were also considering the possibility that neighborhood gang violence or a personal grudge were behind the killing, report Stuart Pfeifer and Tami Abdollah.
Detectives from LAPD's robbery-homicide division were investigating the killing with the assistance of detectives from the sheriff's homicide division and the jail's gang unit. Sheriff Lee Baca said Escalante's assignment put him in touch with members of the Mexican Mafia, a gang known to direct street crime and violence from behind prison walls.
Read on about the case of Juan Abel Escalante here.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
Photo: Juan Abel Escalante, 27, a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy, was a father of three with more than two years' service in the department. He was a military veteran who a neighbor said served in Iraq.
Why is it that when it comes to deputies being murdered, the police department doesn't rest until they finish their investigation? On August 10, 2008 my brother Gerardo Arvallo was murdered by Sheriff Swat. The police claim that he was holding my niece hostage and that my brother had a shoot out with them. Witnesses state that my brother had already released his daughter prior to them hearing a gunshot followed by an explosion. Yet I gave this information to internal affairs and they are not willing to investigate, because the case is closed and according to them it was a justified kill. Do we have to be police officers to get a fair investigation? This just shows how corrupt this legal system is. I am going to expose the truth.
Posted by: Eloy Arvallo | July 16, 2009 at 01:23 PM
who recieves money to cover for the mexican mafia in this country anyway?
Posted by: limberopoulos | November 16, 2008 at 09:46 PM
as long as you white folks keep on putting these hsrd working illegals thus hell msomeone is going to take advatanage of there feelings. you know who that is. well what can i say keep on blaming mexicans for the trouble and u will have to deal with more its only logical.
Posted by: adrianom cruz | September 12, 2008 at 10:17 AM
I thought foreigners who were convicted of crimes here in U.S. could be sent back to where they came from?
Posted by: Jeff Davis | August 05, 2008 at 07:30 AM
Very sad, I hope htey catch whom ever is responisble for this.
Posted by: Southoc | August 05, 2008 at 07:22 AM
whats happening to this world? this man was shot 11 blocks away from my home since birth. he had kids and everything. why him? why anyone? just hearing about this made me cry. deputy juan abel escelante made it through his childhood and made somethign of himself just to have it taken away by worthless thugs. my condolences to all he left behind.
Posted by: erica | August 04, 2008 at 07:24 PM