When Juan Valentin Jarillo stepped off an airplane at San Francisco International Airport, there were people waiting to greet him -- and arrest him in connection with a Feb. 2 shooting in Planada.
On Merced County's Most Wanted list, Jarillo, 22, of Planada was arrested by San Francisco police officers and gang investigator John Mathis of the Merced County Sheriff's Department after arriving on a flight from Minneapolis.
Deputy Paul Barile, sheriff's department spokesman, said Jarillo was the fourth suspect sought in a gang-related drive-by shooting on Coronado Court in Planada.
Barile said it is believed Jarillo drove the black Honda Accord getaway car that spirited suspected shooter Miguel Elias, as well as Daniel Manzo and Eliseo Bautista Jr. from the scene. Jarillo reportedly fled to Minneapolis following the shooting.
An informant tipped off officers that Jarillo would be on the California-bound airplane and he was arrested in San Francisco without incident.
He was transferred Wednesday afternoon to the Merced County Jail where he remains in lieu of $999,999 bail on charges of shooting into an inhabited dwelling, with a gang enhancement, according to Barile.
At least six shots rang out in the Coronado Court shooting and a 3-year-old neighbor girl being unloaded from her parents' car was almost struck by gunfire, according to sheriff's reports. A tire on their car was flattened by the gunfire.
Jarillo's picture and description were posted in the Feb. 14 Merced Sun-Star under Merced County's Most Wanted. He is believed to be a criminal street gang member, Barile said.
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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