3 Suspects Arrested in Killing of Police Officer

Three men sought in the shooting death of a Maywood police officer were arrested in Los Angeles on Sunday, authorities said.

Carlos Juarez, 22, believed by authorities to have been the triggerman who gunned down Officer John A. Hoglund in a robbery Friday, was arrested about 7 p.m. Sunday near downtown, said Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sgt. Bob Stoneman.

Two alleged accomplices, Jose Contreras, 20, and Hector Reyna, 21, were arrested earlier Sunday in South-Central Los Angeles, Stoneman said.

The suspects were identified from a videotape taken by a surveillance camera in the store, deputies said. The robbers took the tape from one camera, but were unaware that a second camera was also recording the incident, investigators said.

No other details on the arrests were available.

A combined force of detectives from the Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles police and Maywood police arrested the suspects, the sergeant said. All three suspects were booked at the Carson sheriff’s station on suspicion of robbery and murder.

Stoneman said officials are seeking one more suspect in the killing.

Hoglund, 46, a Maywood police officer for 16 years, was fatally wounded during a robbery at George’s Market, 4045 52nd St., about 1:35 p.m. Friday. He was the first Maywood officer killed in the line of duty in that department’s 68-year history.

Hoglund was responding to a silent burglar alarm at the market, a family-owned grocery and liquor store, when he was shot at least three times in the chest and head as he stepped from his patrol car, Maywood Police Chief Ted Heidke said.

Hoglund did not have a chance to draw his gun, Heidke said.

Heidke said Hoglund was drawn to the scene by the silent alarm. He was not assigned to take the call, but volunteered because he was the closest officer, the chief said. Maywood officers typically ride alone.

By the time a backup car with two reserve officers arrived minutes later, Hoglund had been fatally wounded, Heidke said. The patrol car was parked in the middle of the block in front of the market, its driver’s door open with the officer slumped partially inside.

Because of the position of Hoglund’s car, Heidke speculated that the officer pulled up just as the suspects were entering one of the getaway cars, tried to stop them, and did not realize that there was a second carload of suspects nearby.

Hoglund, who was known for his dry sense of humor, was the only officer in the Maywood force who refused to wear a bulletproof vest, Heidke said. The fatal wound was to the head, however, so a vest would not have made a difference, the chief added.