Suspect in 1992 Killing of Policeman Arrested

A reputed gang member wanted in the killing of a Maywood police officer two years ago has been arrested by two Los Angeles policemen who recognized him from an old photograph as they were on routine patrol, investigators said Friday.

Oscar Paredes, 22, was taken into custody Wednesday at a street corner in the Central City area, police said.

“We had a Xeroxed copy of an old black-and-white photo,” said Sgt. Mark Williams of the Rampart station’s anti-gang Community Resources Against Street Hoodlums unit. “We’d heard this guy might be around. . . .

“Two of our CRASH officers, Josh Adler and Ben Alonso, were patrolling near Venice (Boulevard) and Vermont (Avenue) and they saw this man,” the sergeant said. “He’d shaved his mustache and his hair was different, but they thought he looked like the guy.”

Williams said the officers brought the man in, fingerprinted him “and got a match.”

“He was the guy wanted for murder,” Williams said.

Investigators said Paredes was one of five men who took over a small, family-owned market in Maywood at gunpoint on May 29, 1992. As the robbers ran from the store with about $6,000, they spotted Maywood Officer John Hoglund, who had just driven up in response to a silent alarm.

The investigators said the robbers opened fire as Hoglund stepped from his car, fatally wounding him. Hoglund never had a chance to draw his gun, the investigators said.

Working with pictures provided by the market’s security cameras, police arrested Jose Contreras, then 20, Hector Reyna, 21, and the alleged killer, Carlos Juarez, 22, two days later. All were charged later with armed robbery and murder. Williams said he believed disposition of their cases has not been completed.

Paredes was being held without bail Friday at the Downtown Los Angeles County Jail. The fifth suspect, Jose Fernando Alvarado, 22, is believed to have fled the country and is still being sought, police said.