A 41-hour manhunt ended Friday with the arrest of a man suspected of gunning down his cousin’s wife in her east Rogers home. Sergio Morales-Carrera, 23, was arrested in a vehicle in Fayetteville about 2: 10 p. m. by members of the Rogers Police Department’s criminal investigation division, said Lt. Mike Johnson, department spokesman. Morales-Carrera was arrested “without incident,” Johnson said. He was taken to the Rogers jail and later to the Benton County jail, Johnson said. A bond hearing is scheduled for 9 a. m. Monday, he said.
Two other men also were arrested on charges of hindering apprehension: Ramiro Ortiz-Hinojo, 27, and Miguel Ortiz-Hinojo, 25.
All three are suspected of being illegal aliens and will be processed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to a news release. Veronica Robles, a 37-yearold mother of five, was shot about 9 p. m. Wednesday. Robles’ husband, Jose Carrera, is Morales-Carrera’s cousin. Investigators followed leads to find Morales-Carrera and another person in a vehicle at 3110 Ika Lane in Fayetteville, Johnson said. He didn’t say if that person was one of the men arrested for hindering apprehension. A handgun was found, but Johnson didn’t have information on the weapon. It will be sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock, he said. Police had warned the public Thursday that Morales-Carrera was considered armed and dangerous because he was believed to have fled the scene of the shooting with a. 45-caliber handgun. Police responded to a 911 call from Robles’ 15-year-old daughter from 2606 Graham Drive. “The daughter collapsed in the front yard, and the children were screaming, ‘ He killed our mother ! Stop him !’” according to a neighbor. The neighbor said Thursday that she saw Morales-Carrera arrive at the home in a pickup and heard an argument inside. She watched as Morales-Carrera retrieved a gun from the pickup. She heard three shots and saw Morales-Carrera leave the house and drive away. The truck was found Thursday morning at Tesoro Beach restaurant at 701 S. Thompson St. in Springdale.
Rogers police Capt. Ron Largent said Friday that investigators are working to determine where Morales-Carrera went between the restaurant and his arrest. Largent said that within hours of the 911 call, agencies in nine states had been notified to keep an eye out for Morales-Carrera. Rogers detectives also teamed with other agencies including Fayetteville police, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U. S. Marshals Service. Largent, speaking before Morales-Carrera’s arrest, said making an arrest is difficult if the suspect isn’t caught in the first 48 hours after a crime. “But we might have the guy caught in an hour,” he said. About two hours after Largent spoke, Morales-Carrera was in custody, about 41 hours after the shooting. The Marshals Service became involved Friday, said Dick O’Connell, marshal for the Western District of Arkansas. O’Connell said enforcement agencies at the U. S.-Mexico and U. S.-Canada borders were on alert. Last year, the Marshals Service helped track a fugitive from Washington County to Honduras, said Sgt. Oscar Henson of the Washington County sheriff’s office. Jerry D. Sykes was arrested in September in Honduras after six months on the lam. Sykes awaits trial in the March 2007 suffocation death of his girlfriend, Sandra Stokes. “If it wasn’t for [the U. S. marshals ], we probably wouldn’t have got him back,” Henson said.
To contact this reporter: awallworth@arkansasonline. com
http://www.nwarktimes.com/adg/News/231710
The Morning News story which only mentions only Carrera's status but has a comment section.
http://www.nwaonline.net/articles/2008/
____________________________
An update about the Ramos and Compean Case:
http://www.alipac.us/modules
Cartoon by Ramirez 
