“This will never go away, but we need something, a win. We need something so we can move on,” Newman Police Chief Randy Richardson said.
Days after Newman, California, police Corporal Ronil Singh was killed, a man accused of carrying out the murder was arrested following a widespread manhunt.
Early Wednesday morning, Singh, 33, pulled over a driver in a gray pickup truck whom he suspected of possibly driving under the influence of alcohol. A few minutes after the officer and the vehicle pulled over, Singh called out over the radio, “Shots fired.”
Multiple agencies responded to the scene, where Singh was found with multiple gunshot wounds. He was later pronounced dead at a local hospital, according to the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department.
The suspect fled the scene, sparking a widespread manhunt, which resulted in three people being arrested, according to an announcement Friday. The suspect was identified as Gustavo Perez Arriaga, 32. Along with Arriaga, his brother Adrian Virgen, 25, and his co-worker Erik Razo Quiroz, 32, were arrested as accomplices. As Arriaga was transported to Stanislaus County Jail to be booked, he was placed in Singh’s handcuffs.
Arriaga will be charged with homicide, while Virgen and Quiroz will be charged with being an accessory after the fact to a felony.
Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson said that Arriaga crossed the U. S. border in Arizona illegally « some time ago » and that he has two prior arrests for driving under the influence. Christianson reminded reporters that Singh pulled Arriaga over because he was suspected of driving under the influence.
