SANTA PAULA : Fugitive in Slaying Arrested in Denver

A man charged with being the gunman in a 1991 Santa Paula slaying has been arrested in Denver, a day after his brother was convicted of first-degree murder in Ventura County for his role in the crime, police said.

Arturo M. Tellez, 26, was arrested Thursday after he became involved in a disturbance with a bar security guard, Denver Police Detective David Metzler said. Two uniformed officers who were in the bar on other business became suspicious when Tellez produced a phony immigration green card, and a further search uncovered genuine identification, Metzler said.

“He’s probably real sad he offered the fake I.D., because that’s why the officers went further,” Metzler said.

Tellez has been a fugitive since June, 1991, when a Ventura County grand jury indicted him for the slaying of his cousin, Javier Tellez Garcia, 27, and the attempted murder of another cousin, Jose Tellez Vasquez, then 32.

The shootings, part of a lengthy feud between branches of the Tellez family, occurred on a Sunday afternoon in Teague Park, which was crowded with dozens of people, Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol J. Nelson said.

Arturo Tellez will appear in a Colorado court next week to determine whether he will return voluntarily to Ventura County for prosecution, Ventura County Sheriff’s Detective Charles Harwood said.

If Tellez refuses to waive extradition, officials will seek a special governor’s warrant to bring him back to California, a process that could take up to 90 days, Harwood said.

Arturo Tellez is charged with being the gunman in the shootings. On Wednesday, a Ventura County Superior Court jury convicted his brother, Jesus M. Tellez, 21, of first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder under an aiding-and-abetting theory.

Nelson said Jesus Tellez helped his brother track down the victims at the park and helped him escape after Arturo fired the shots from a 9-millimeter pistol.

The brothers disappeared after the shootings, and Jesus Tellez was arrested in Texas in June.

Harwood said two Ventura County sheriff’s investigators flew to Denver on Friday to speak with Arturo Tellez.