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For Immediate Release |
Contact: |
| April 16, 2009 |
Erik Richmond, Senior Inspector 404-909-0435 USMS Headquarters Public Affairs (202) 307-9065 |
| Homicide Suspect Captured by U.S. Marshals |
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PITTSBURGH, PA- In the early evening hours of Tuesday, April 14,
2009, members of the United States Marshals’ Western
Pennsylvania Fugitive Task Force arrested fugitive Nelson
Guajardo in the parking lot of the Spring Hills Suites motel in Pittsburg, PA. Guajardo was wanted by
authorities in Clayton County, Georgia for numerous charges
including Felony Murder and Aggravated Assault. On May 8, 2007, warrants were issued for Guajardo based on an incident that occurred two days prior, on May 6, 2007, at an apartment complex in College Park, Georgia. On that date, a verbal and physical altercation took place between the victim, Derek King, and the suspect. The fight was broken up by residents of the complex; however, Guajardo is alleged to have then gone to his vehicle and retrieved a .40 caliber handgun from which he fired 5 rounds into the carport wall of the residence, striking Mr. King in his chest and killing him. Witnesses then observed Guajardo driving away from the scene. On May 9, 2007, the Clayton County Sheriff’s Fugitive Squad and the United States Marshals Service’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) began the search for Guajardo. On May 12, 2007, the investigation revealed that he had fled the country and traveled to Guadalajara, Mexico where he was a citizen. The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office was soon contacted and formal extradition proceedings were begun in an effort to bring Guajardo back to the United States. Going before a grand jury, prosecutors obtained a True Bill of Indictment against Guajardo for Malice Murder, Felony Murder, Aggravated Assault (3 Counts) and Possession of Weapon During Commission of a Crime (3 Counts). At some point over the next year, Guajardo made his way back to Georgia using an assumed identity and on February 24, 2009, he allegedly assaulted the mother of his children and her new boyfriend at a residence in Doraville, Georgia. Additional warrants were obtained by the Dekalb County Police Department for that incident as well. On the afternoon of the April 14th, 2009, SERFTF investigators developed critical information that Guajardo was possibly staying at a hotel near the Pittsburg International Airport and forwarded the information to investigators in that district. A short while later, while conducting surveillance, Guajardo was observed as he exited the hotel and attempted to enter a vehicle. He was taken into custody at the scene without incident. Initially, he indicated his name was Arturo Israel Zamudio Carreon and provided a Mexican identification card bearing that name. When questioned further, he admitted his true identity. A subsequent search of Guajardo’s hotel room revealed a travel bag containing a large sum of U.S. currency and a kilogram of suspected powder cocaine. The subject’s vehicle was impounded and placed into storage pending a further search. Guajardo was charged as a Fugitive from Justice and booked at the Allegheny County Jail where he is currently awaiting extradition to Georgia on the above charges. The U.S. Marshal’s Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) is a team comprised of law enforcement officers from the United States Marshals Service, as well as, 27 other local, state and federal agencies. The task force’s objective is to seek out and arrest the region’s most violent offenders. Since the inception of the task force in September of 2003, the U.S. Marshals SERFTF has closed over 14,000 felony warrants. Annually, U.S. Marshals locate and arrest more fugitives than all other federal law enforcement agencies combined. |
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Additional information about the U.S. Marshals can be found at http://www.usmarshals.gov. |