Bail Is Set for Videographer of Police Shooting

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Tuesday set bail at $100,000 for fugitive Jose Luis Valdes, the Chino man who recorded images of a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy shooting an Air Force security officer Jan. 29.

Valdes had two outstanding warrants for aggravated assault in Florida, and was taken into custody Friday while visiting a federal immigration office in Pomona to renew his immigrant registration card. Valdes’ arraignment on charges of being a fugitive from justice was postponed until Thursday.

If Valdes agrees to waive an extradition hearing, the fugitive charge probably will be dismissed Thursday and he will be handed over to Florida authorities, said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley.

“He needs to be with his wife and children,” said his attorney, Luis Carrillo of South Pasadena, who also represents the shooting victim’s family.

“It’s an injustice that he’s sitting in a jail cell,” he said.

Carrillo said that he believed that it was a “case of intimidation” by police in retribution for the recording. Sheriff’s officials said they had no involvement in Valdes’ arrest.

Valdes’ video has been broadcast nationwide and is a primary piece of evidence in the investigation of the shooting by San Bernardino County sheriff’s homicide detectives and the FBI.

“Without the video, the police could have said anything,” Carrillo said.

The airman, Elio Carrion, was shot in the chest, leg and shoulder, said his wife, Mariela. He was released from Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton on Friday night.

The life of Valdes, 38, who sells used cars in El Monte, has turned upside down since the shooting. Now he is in jail, away from his family, including two daughters aged 11 and 4.

His longtime partner, Grecy Duarte, said Tuesday that her family was not doing well since the arrest and that she was worried about their future.