Posted on 05/18/2007 10:27:28 AM PDT by AuntB
Man Arrested After Intense Search
A deputy was shot and killed during a routine traffic stop, and a suspect is in custody after an intense manhunt by land and air, a Kenosha County sheriff's official said Thursday.
Deputy Frank Fabiano Jr. was trying to pull over a red Chevrolet Astro van near the University of Wisconsin-Parkside campus at about 11:37 p.m. Wednesday when he was shot once in the face, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.
A Parkside police officer serving as a backup radioed that shots had been fired and a deputy was down. He also returned fire, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.
he shooting happened in an upscale neighborhood on 45th Avenue just south of Highway E.
The gunman disappeared into a wooded area, as dozens of squad cars streamed into the area. A helicopter and police dogs were brought in to search for the male suspect.
As the three-hour manhunt began, authorities sent a telephone message -- a "child is missing" alert -- to residents of the area urging them to be on the alert.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said people called in tips that were useful.
Kenosha County Sheriff's spokesman Gil Benn said the 44-year-old suspect was arrested at the Woodcreek Apartment Complex, located about a half-mile from the shooting scene just after 2:30 a.m.
Ezequiel Lopez Ezequiel Lopez Ezequiel Lopez was hiding behind some cars and was still armed, according to Beth.
He was treated at Kenosha Memorial Hospital for injuries and is in the Racine County Jail.
Beth said the suspect had eight aliases and at least five Social Security numbers. The sheriff said Lopez has a Kenosha address, although it was not known if it is current. Lopez, who was born in Durango, Mexico, has also been arrested several times.
Fabiano was transported to St. Catherine's Hospital, where he pronounced dead. He is survived by his wife and 7-year-old daughter.
Fabiano, an 18-year veteran of the force, received a silver star from the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department for rescuing someone from a burning building in Paddock Lake in 1991. He also received a purple heart in 1991 after getting shot in Paddock Lake.
He graduated from Bradford High School in 1977 and loved to go golfing, Beth said.
The Wisconsin Department of Criminal Investigation is now in charge of the case.
It's been almost seven years since a law enforcement officer from southeastern Wisconsin died while on duty.
Milwaukee County deputies Ralph Zylka and Sung-Hui Bang were killed in August 2000 when their helicopter crashed while on a manhunt in the central part of the state.
Thank you for telling us you’ll attend the service. This is a needless tragedy. And welcome to FR.
Kenosha County District Attorney Robert Zapf said the Department of Corrections provided the information that Ezeiquiel Lopez, 44, of Kenosha was an illegal immigrant. Lopez was under DOC supervision while he was on probation for 2005 and 2006 battery and domestic violence offenses in Kenosha County.
Zapf said there’s no indication his office or Kenosha County law enforcement agencies were aware of Lopez’s illegal status.
Informing immigration enforcement officials of potential illegal immigrants after conviction hasn’t been a priority for Kenosha County prosecutors, who put that responsibility on Department of Corrections officials.
Hispanic leaders fear backlash following arrest
5/18/07
Hispanic leaders said Thursday they are bracing for the backlash they anticipate will come following the arrest of Ezequiel Lopez in the shooting death of Frank Fabiano Jr., a veteran Kenosha County Sheriff’s deputy.
“We’re always afraid of threats and the unnecessary comments because people like to lump us all together as one man,” Ben Ortega, Spanish Center executive director, said. “This is also an opportunity to call for immigration reform laws and for gun control, too.”
Lopez, 44, of Kenosha, has had his share of run-ins with the law including arrests for battering his wife and operating a motor vehicle without a license. Authorities said Lopez also is known by other names and has at least five different forms of Social Security identification.
Given the man’s use of aliases and identifications “it’s a high probability” he came to the U.S. undocumented, Ortega said.
Despite a criminal record going back six years, Ezequiel Lopez was never deported. Only after he was charged with killing Fabiano did anyone try to have him kicked out of the country.
...In 2003, he was arrested in Texas on a gun charge.
In 2003, Lopez was picked-up in Missouri for OWI.
In 2004, Kenosha Police arrested him on charges of domestic battery, disorderly conduct, bail jumping.
Still, this is the first time immigration enforcement had heard of him. “We can find no record of having had contact with this individual before or having had him referred to us by another law enforcement agency,” said Tim Counts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Leni
When interviewed, Lopez said he was upset on Wednesday because he claimed his wife had an affair.
"The defendant said that he had been drinking tequila, bought a .380 pistol for $300 from what he described as a gang member and also bought and consumed about $200 worth of cocaine," the complaint said.
He also said he didn't initially stop his van for Fabiano because he thought he had been in an accident. Lopez said "he cannot recall shooting at any officers," the complaint said.
Fabiano had three gunshot wounds, including at least one to the head that killed him, the complaint said.
A judge set Lopez's bond at $1 million Friday. A hearing to determine whether the case should go to trial is scheduled for May 29.
Not by accident either, Leni.
Private prisons are BIG business and they contribute BIG $ to candidates. The president has benefited from it along with many politicians. When you look at them they are the same politicos who push 'immigration reform'. Illegal aliens are good business for the private prison industry.
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/bio/fec/?commid=C00366468&page=campaigns&order=TOTAL&cycle=2003-2004
And then you have Philip Perry, who recently resigned as head council for Homeland Security under a cloud of suspicion, a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin and Corrections Corp, a private prison system.
http://sopr.senate.gov/cgi-win/m_opr_viewer.exe?DoFn=3&LOB=PERRY,%20PHILIP%20J.&LOBQUAL==
Who is Phil Perry?
http://towncriernews.blogspot.com/2007/02/exposing-dept-of-job-security-who-is.html
More on private prisons and their influence. See previous post also.
http://realcostofprisons.org/blog/archives/2004/10/cca_and_cracker.html
[snip]
CCA, the nation’s largest private prison company, has credited the Bush administration’s expansion of federal police for creating new business for the firm.
Three times, the Corrections Corporation of America Political Action Committee made $15,000 donations to the National Republican Senatorial Committee. A number of $5,000 donations went to the Bush-Cheney campaign, the New Republican Majority Fund, and other GOP money groups.
Of the $149,500 doled out by the company’s PAC in the 2004 election cycle, 96 percent went to Republicans around the country.
The $5,000 spent on Democrats went to Tennessee politicians- Reps. Jim Cooper, Lincoln Davis, John Tanner and Harold Ford Jr., according to data from the Federal Election Commission.
Money was also doled out to candidates from states where CCA has deals to run prisons, such as Colorado, Georgia and Florida.
Dick Williams, state chairman for Common Cause of Tennessee, a Nashville-based government watchdog group, said it’s obvious that CCA is trying to buy influence.
CCA wins when politicians from the local to federal level decide to send prisoners to its private jails, he said.
Thanks.
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