Troopers Feared Murder Suspect Would Open Fire

A man suspected of murdering a Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy and three other people was shot to death from behind by two state troopers because they thought he might be armed and about to open fire on them, an official with the New York State Police said Thursday.

“He was told, ‘Stop! Halt! Put your hands up!’ ” Maj. James O’Donnell said at a news conference. “It was his decision to turn in a threatening manner. . . . The mind-set of the investigators--of the troopers and officers and FBI agents at the scene--was that he would shoot without provocation.”

O’Donnell said that when Cesar Uriel Mazariego-Molina crouched a second time and reached toward his waistband, the two troopers fired nine shots, hitting the 26-year-old suspect in the back of the head, right shoulder and right calf.

“We certainly didn’t want to kill him,” O’Donnell said. “But we didn’t want to go to another trooper’s funeral, either.”

No weapon was found on or near Mazariego-Molina’s body, police said. The FBI said tests were being conducted to determine how the two officers and Mazariego-Molina were positioned when the troopers opened fire with a shotgun and a rifle.

Last week, a warrant was issued for the arrest of Mazariego-Molina in the death of Nelson H. Yamamoto, 26, who was fatally wounded during a March 29 shootout outside a garage in Walnut Park. Mazariego-Molina also was suspected of a murder in North Hollywood and two murders in El Salvador.

O’Donnell held the news conference at the F Troop headquarters in Middletown on Tuesday morning to provide more details about how Mazariego-Molina was shot to death Monday afternoon as he fled from officers at the Dembroski Orchards apple farm outside the nearby Hudson River Valley town of Plattekill.

O’Donnell said Mazariego-Molina had joined other members of his family to work at the sprawling farm last year. The family is from El Salvador, and local officials said a number of Latin Americans are employed at the vineyards and apple orchards that abound in the rich agricultural area about 100 miles north of New York City.

Last summer, Mazariego-Molina went to California, and a short time later, law enforcement officers here were told that he was wanted in the murder of his uncle in North Hollywood. Los Angeles police say the uncle, Concepcion Vivitar, had testified against Mazariego-Molina during a trial in which his nephew eventually was convicted of raping a female cousin.

Police in the Plattekill area were unable to find Mazariego-Molina last summer, and said that they had not heard of him until last week, when the warrant was issued for his arrest in connection with the death of Yamamoto.

On Saturday, the television program “America’s Most Wanted” broadcast an account of the shootout in Walnut Park, along with a picture of Mazariego-Molina.

The next day, a state trooper received a tip from a viewer who said Mazariego-Molina had been seen in the Plattekill area about six months ago, but the trooper was unable to find any evidence that Mazariego-Molina was there, O’Donnell said.

Then, on Sunday, troopers got a call from Alex Dembroski, who had seen the same show and thought Mazariego-Molina might be visiting other members of his family at the Dembroski farm.

The troopers called the FBI, and the next day, an area agent, five troopers and a Plattekill police officer converged on the small mobile home where Mazariego-Molina’s brother, sister-in-law and sister were living at the rear of the property.

O’Donnell said Mazariego-Molina suddenly ran from the house, jumped into a car and attempted to escape, trying to run down two of the state troopers as he sped off through an apple grove.

The troopers gave chase. And, moments later, Mazariego-Molina’s car bogged down in the grove and he fled on foot, running across a weed-choked marsh toward a forest on the edge of the property, O’Donnell said. The troopers ran after him, shouting in English for him to halt, O’Donnell said.

Although Mazariego-Molina spoke English well and “understood the instructions clearly,” he continued to flee, O’Donnell said. But suddenly Mazariego-Molina stopped, “crouched, turned, looked at them once, then ran a little farther, crouched again, and then the shots were commenced.” O’Donnell said.

Authorities said the suspect was pronounced dead at the scene.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a cousin who deputies say had been with Mazariego-Molina during the shootout in Walnut Park was charged in Municipal Court with two counts of armed robbery in connection with a holdup in the Rampart area of Los Angeles on March 15.

Prosecutors said that although Juan Manuel Mazariego, 22, was present during the Walnut Park shootout, he would not be charged in Yamamoto’s death.

“He was not armed, he was just there when it took place and then he ran off,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Schirn said.

In addition, two other men were arraigned Tuesday in South Gate on charges of being accessories after the fact in Yamamoto’s murder.

Prosecutors say Manuel De Jesus Monzon, 20, and Jose Benedicto Portillo, 35, gave Mazariego-Molina money after the shootout and helped him slip out of the Los Angeles area. In addition, the district attorney’s office says that Monzon helped Mazariego-Molina hide the gun that was used to shoot Yamamoto.

Another man died during the March 29 shootout. Deputies said Homero Isidro Ibarra, 30, was shot to death after he ignored their orders to drop what later turned out to be a replica of a .45-caliber pistol. Ibarra’s family has said he was an innocent victim who died while complying with the deputies’ orders.