Mexico Arrests Suspect in Border Patrol Shooting

A Mexican citizen suspected of shooting and seriously wounding a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Vista last year has been arrested by Mexican police, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service announced Monday.

David Lopez-Arguello was apprehended by police Friday near Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco, said INS Commissioner Alan Nelson. Lopez-Arguello is also suspected of two killings in Mexico, including that of a “high-ranking police official,” Nelson said.

According to an investigation by San Diego County Sheriff’s Department detectives, a man identified as Lopez-Arguello allegedly shot supervisory Border Patrol agent William Beaumet in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, 1985, as the agent was pursuing the suspected illegal alien down a dark alley in Vista, Nelson said.

The San Diego County district attorney’s office then issued a warrant for Lopez-Arguello’s arrest on suspicion of “assault with a firearm on a peace officer, use of a weapon in the commission of a felony, aggravated assault and intent to commit murder,” Nelson said.

Mexican law enforcement authorities agreed to arrest Lopez-Arguello on the warrant, Nelson said. Lopez-Arguello will be tried in Mexico and will not be extradited, a Border Patrol spokeswoman said Monday.