Judge Orders Trial in Fatal Gun Battle Along Border

An 18-year-old Mexican citizen was ordered to stand trial Friday on charges of attempted murder and robbery stemming from a May 4 gun battle with members of the San Diego police and Border Patrol bandit detail.

Jaime Arroyo Zaragoza was bound over for trial after a two-day preliminary hearing before Municipal Court Judge Robert J. Cooney. Arroyo’s older brother, Julio, was killed in the gunfight with the bandit detail, which is officially known as the Border Crimes Prevention Unit.

Border Patrol Agent Fred Stevens, 39, was struck by five bullets fired by Julio Arroyo Zaragoza, 33, but was saved by an armored vest that stopped two bullets aimed at his chest. Stevens was also hit in the left hip, left arm and right thigh. Jaime Arroyo did not fire his pistol and a third bandit got away, police said.

The confrontation occurred at night on a ridge east of the San Ysidro crossing after other members of the detail had seen the three suspects robbing illegal aliens. The gunfire erupted when Jaime Arroyo approached Stevens, agent John L. Crocitto and officer Cesar Solis.

Solis testified Friday that Jaime Arroyo approached the members of the detail while holding his right hand inside a jacket pocket. Solis said he later learned that Arroyo was carrying a cocked .22-caliber pistol in the pocket.

“He (Jaime Arroyo) was looking at us, checking us out carefully. He was looking at our faces and boots,” said Solis. “He looked startled, like he had recognized us as cops. I identified myself in Spanish and ordered him to stop.”

Instead, Arroyo walked briskly away and hid behind a bush. Solis said he reached behind the bush and pulled him out. Arroyo resisted, but, with Crocitto’s help, Solis was able to place Arroyo face down on the ground and handcuff him. Authorities later found Arroyo’s weapon in the bush.

Once handcuffed, Arroyo taunted the officers, daring them to go after his two companions, said Stevens. At that point, Stevens testified, another suspect began moving toward the officers and Julio Arroyo appeared from behind a bush about six feet from Stevens and began firing.

Remarkably, Stevens was not felled immediately by the bullets, and he emptied his pistol firing at Julio Arroyo. Arroyo was standing just below the ridge, with his head about waist high to Stevens. Stevens testified that he fired all six shots at Julio Arroyo’s head from waist high.

Meanwhile, Solis testified, he had placed his right knee on Jaime Arroyo’s back and emptied his 9-millimeter pistol of nine shots, reloaded and fired two more times. Solis and Crocitto testified that they both aimed where they saw the muzzle flashes from Julio Arroyo’s gun. Crocitto said he was about 30 feet away from Julio Arroyo when he fired two rounds at the gunman.

“I saw an individual (Julio Arroyo) below agent Stevens raise both hands in front of him and fire two times. Agent Stevens halfway turned around and fired two rounds,” said Crocitto. “I myself fired two rounds . . . at the next to the last shot I saw the suspect fly back and begin rolling down the hill.”

Crocitto said that he observed Julio Arroyo for about a minute as the fatally wounded man lay still at the bottom of the canyon. “He didn’t appear to be moving,” said Crocitto.

Julio Arroyo was hit once in the forehead, between the eyes, and another time in the leg by a bullet that went through the calf. Police said that Solis fired the fatal shot that entered Arroyo’s head.