20-year-old Andrew Barrientos was arrested near the U.S.-Mexico border Saturday. He is accused of shooting officer Todd Young, while he was serving a warrant in East Oakland on Friday afternoon.
He was captured about 15 feet from the border crossing at San Ysidro. Barrientos and an accomplice were at a parking lot when a San Diego police officer spotted their car.
"The suspect that was inside the vehicle identified himself. He was armed. He had a pistol in his waistband that was loaded. Both the driver and suspect surrendered peacefully," said Lt. Ken Hubbs with the San Diego Police Department.
This comes after police began to search the Decoto District in Union City on Saturday, where the 20-year-old used to live and is a known member of the Decoto Nortenos.
The SWAT team and police served a search warrant in a duplex, where some residents were evacuated as they searched.
"We don't know really know who they are," neighbor Ines Mercado said. "We don't have conversations with them you know, but they just told us we had to get out. That's all."
"They are the law and you've got to obey the law. If they are looking for someone who did a crime, I am behind it, you know, support them. You have nothing to hide and let them in," resident Samantha Mill said.
Barrientos stole a car shortly after the shooting. The green Mazda was found at around 2 a.m. on Saturday across from Tennyson Park in Hayward. Police officers were able to track Barrientos through his cell phone signal as he drove south. When San Diego police and CHP stopped Barrientos, he was armed and had another person in the car. They were both arrested without incident.
As for Officer Young, the 39-year old is a six year veteran of the Fremont Police Department. He is in critical but stable condition in an Oakland hospital. Fremont Police Chief Craig Steckler says Young's wife has been by his side the whole time and that she is keeping a positive attitude about her husband's health. He has already gone through surgery once and will probably need to do so a couple more times.
Dr. Javid Sadjadi said Young lost a significant amount of blood. He said Young had suffered "rather extreme injuries, it's really touch and go."
Young has gone through over 60 units of blood. People can help by donating blood for Young with the American Red Cross. Appointments can be scheduled at any of the below American Red Cross locations by calling 1-800-448-3543 or 1-800-733-2767, or by going to www.redcrossbayarea.org.
There are five American Red Cross Agencies in the Bay Area that are accepting donations:
Pleasant Hill
140 Gregory Lane Ste 120
Pleasant Hill, CA 94523
Oakland
6230 Claremont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Pleasanton
5556 N Springdale Avenue
Pleasanton, CA 94588
San Jose
2731 North 1st Street
San Jose, CA
Fremont
39227 Cedar Blvd
Fremont, CA 94560
