Suspect in Shooting of CHP Officer Is Captured

An immigrant suspected of shooting a California Highway Patrolman in the face during a routine traffic stop last week was captured Friday in the central Mexican city of Durango by Los Angeles police detectives and Mexican state police agents.

Law enforcement officials said Florentino Torres Silva, 25, of Glendale, was taken into custody without incident about 10 a.m. after he was stopped while driving to a Durango hospital.

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates said authorities had staked out a road near the hospital after learning that Silva’s pregnant wife had been admitted soon after the couple fled to Durango with their 15-month-old son. After sighting a pickup truck believed stolen by Silva, police stopped it and arrested the suspect.

“We knew that Silva was originally from Durango and that he had family there,” Gates said. “With the cooperation of Mexican State Judicial police, we were able to find him.”

Learned of Address

Officials said that although Silva managed to slip by patrols searching for him at border crossing points, he was not hard to find. During a search of a Los Angeles-area residence where Silva was known to stay, police found a Durango address, they said.

County prosecutors said Friday that they have asked Mexican authorities to try Silva in Mexico, which has similar charges and penalties to California’s attempted murder statute.

“Either he’s prosecuted in Mexico or he’s not prosecuted at all,” said Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Gilbert I. Garcetti. “I’ll take the former.”

Silva has been sought since last Saturday after a shooting incident left Officer Gary Baker, a 10-year veteran of the California Highway Patrol, in serious condition at Huntington Memorial Hospital in Pasadena. Baker, 32, was shot in the left side of the face after stopping a silver-blue Datsun 300 ZX sports car on York Boulevard in Glassell Park.

Highway Patrol Chief Edward W. Gomez said Baker was showing signs of improvement but has not yet been questioned about the shooting.

“He’s looking a lot better,” Gomez said, adding: “We want to wait until he’s in the best condition to talk before we discuss what happened.”

Police have reported that the shooting took place less than half an hour after a restaurant in Pasadena was robbed. Both Gates and Gomez said Silva, who worked as a cook in the South Pasadena area since coming here two years ago, was allegedly involved in the holdup and was identified by witnesses who saw a gunman brandishing a nickel-plated revolver.

A similar gun was believed to have been used in Baker’s shooting, police said, and Deputy Dist. Atty. Dino Fulgoni said he expects a robbery count to be added to an attempted murder charge already filed against Silva.

A second suspect in the restaurant robbery, Antonio Lopez, 20, was arrested by Pasadena police on Tuesday.

A search warrant affidavit made available in Municipal Court on Friday contained an eyewitness account of the shooting that revealed that Baker was shot in the head as he lay on the ground, UPI reported. The witness told detectives that he first came across the two men as they were struggling with each other.

“It appeared that the officer had the suspect bent over the hood of the vehicle . . . and was partially on top of him,” detectives quoted the witness as saying. “The suspect continued to struggle and appeared to raise the officer’s feet off of the ground.

“The suspect rolled, causing the officer to fall off of the suspect onto the ground. The suspect immediately withdrew a revolver with his right hand, extended his arm and fired one round at the officer’s head. The officer was wearing his helmet at the time.”

Baker was shot in the left cheek and inner ear, with the bullet lodged in his brain. During five hours of surgery, doctors relieved swelling that caused pressure on the brain, and removed the bullet.

“It’s too early to speculate on the long-term effects,” Gomez said.

The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has already given approval for a trial in Mexico, Gates said. There has been heightened law enforcement cooperation between California and Mexico authorities in recent years.

“Mexican law works quite well,” Gates said.

“And quite fast,” Gomez added.

Times staff writer Terry Pristin contributed to this story.