Suspect Jesus Rodriguez Advertisement

After attempting to escape a second time, Jesus Rodriguez, identified by authorities as the shooter of Deputy Harry Williams, was arrested at 11:20 a.m. Friday, Sept. 15, in Mecca, Calif., an unincorporated area located southeast of Palm Springs near the northern end of the Salton Sea.

Deputy Williams was shot in the leg, allegedly by Rodriguez. Aug. 27 after pulling over a vehicle with false license plates. Rodriguez, along with three other suspects, fled the scene.

Rodriguez, 36, is being charged for attempted murder of a peace officer by the Nye County Sheriff's Office and is currently being held at the Robert Presley Detention Center in Riverside County, Calif.. His bail is set at $100,000 cash or a $1 million dollar bond.

Rodriguez's whereabouts and apprehension were largely due to an agreement signed between the Nye County Sheriff's Office (NCSO) and the U.S. Marshals Service that was signed by Nye County Sheriff Tony DeMeo last June. The agreement allows marshals to come into Nye County and assist with fugitive warrants, as well as giving the NCSO the ability to go outside Nevada to pursue suspects who have fled the county.

"Now with this agreement, NCSO has a far reach within the state of Nevada," said DeMeo. "We have a great working relationship with every law enforcement entity in Nevada, we have a great working relationship with the U.S. Marshals Service. Any suspect that thinks they're going to flee from the jurisdiction of Nye County, if we're looking for them, they're going to be apprehended."

Due to the agreement, the NCSO was able to use the resources of the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team (Nevada-FAST) in Las Vegas to help locate Rodriguez.

Using an NCSO task force made up of patrol deputies, street crime deputies, and narcotics deputies (Rodriguez was reported to be a heavy user of methamphetamine), information was developed about Rodriguez and leads generated as to his possible whereabouts.

"The fact is that the cooperation of the law enforcement entities that were involved in this brought the suspect to apprehension," said Sheriff DeMeo. "The hard work of the deputies of the Nye County Sheriff's Office that was behind the scenes, that no one will ever see but (were) dedicated, was responsible ... and the sharing of information within the NCSO with each other was what expedited us to identifying the suspect," said DeMeo.

Capt. Bill Becht strongly agreed with DeMeo.

"Everybody in the substation, from my dispatcher to the auxiliary units, they were all fantastic," said Becht. Becht specifically commended the work done by Sgt. Dan Thomassian, Deputy Doug Chandler, the two narcotics officers, and Det. Mike McGrath, who according to Becht all "lived, breathed and ate this thing the entire time until we had this guy located and put in custody."

Information and leads developed in Nye County were shared with the marshals, who helped to process the information. Chandler worked with marshals to develop background information on Rodriguez.

The collaboration between the NCSO and the marshals played a significant role in determining that Rodriguez had made his way to Riverside County, Calif.

According to a press release from the NCSO and the marshals, additional officers of the large, multi-agency task force included deputies, agents and officers from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the Ontario (Calif.) Police Department and, also in California, the Riverside and San Bernardino County sheriff's departments."

Rodriguez was hiding at his brother's residence in a trailer park in Mecca Wednesday, Sept. 20.

While waiting for a search warrant to be issued, members of the task force put the trailer under surveillance.

While under surveillance, Rodriguez emerged and got into a vehicle. When officers attempted to stop him, Rodriguez fled the scene leading officers on a five-mile chase. DeMeo said that Rodriguez's vehicle overturned, after which Rodriguez fled on foot.

DeMeo said that Rodriguez's brother was arrested that night and that two rifles were found inside the trailer. Information was also received that Rodriguez was possibly armed with additional weapons.

The search for Rodriguez lasted all Wednesday night and continued until late Thursday morning. The search was another example of the high level of collaboration between various law enforcement agencies, using a professional "mantracker" from the California Highway Patrol, helicopters from both the U.S. Marshal Office and the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, and two K-9 units from the Orange County and Riverside County Sheriff's Offices.

Dennis Gutirerez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Office said, "As soon as Sheriff Bob Doyle (of Riverside County) heard the suspect was in the area, he made sure the U.S. Marshal's Office had every resource available to them."

Despite searching the entire night, by late Thursday morning, DeMeo said, the dogs had lost the scent and officers had "run out of options."

Friday, however, information was received that Rodriguez had returned to his brother's trailer. Once his presence at the residence was confirmed, its site was surrounded by approximately 40 officers and Rodriguez was ordered to surrender. Rodriguez emerged after a few minutes and was arrested.

Two of the suspects that were with Rodriguez at the time of the shooting and later turned themselves in to the NCSO, Shawna Irene Millar and Victoria Lynn Garcia, will have their preliminary hearings Thursday, Sept. 21, at 9 a.m. The hearings will determine if there is probable cause to try their cases.

Both Millar and Garcia are charged with being accessories after the fact to the shooting of a peace officer.