Officials don't know, or at least aren't talking, about the background of the suspect in the freeway slaying Wednesday of a Sandy man.
He's a reported member of one of the country's largest gangs and a Mexican national who has lived in Utah for more than two years.Jail records list a West Valley address for him, but that address is non-existent. One man who lived nearby, however, claimed to know Jose Garcia Miramontes when the two were members of the same Los Angeles gang.
The man, who asked to be identified only as David, said he and Miramontes were members of 18th Street, a "nontraditional" Hispanic gang that began in Los Angeles in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
David said he didn't know Miramontes well and ran into him last year as the two walked down a Salt Lake street. They recognized one another and spoke briefly, he said. They haven't seen one another since that chance encounter, and David doesn't know where Miramontes lives.
Miramontes, 20, is in the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of murder. Detectives screened the case with prosecutors Friday morning.
Lee Parker, 49, Sandy, was killed Wednesday on the 7200 South onramp to I-15 as he drove to work. He was shot three times at close range, police said.
A gold car matching the description of a vehicle seen at the scene was abandoned in Murray with a 9 mm handgun inside. A nearby car was stolen and, after a freeway chase, a suspect was arrested near Fillmore, Millard County.
A man who police believe jumped into the stolen car with the suspect has been interviewed.
Murray Sgt. Gerry Christensen said the friend claims to never have been in the stolen car, but an eyewitness told investigators two men took the idling Cadillac. Police plan to place the man in a photo lineup to see if the witness can identify him, Christensen said.
The Immigration and Naturalization Office in Salt Lake City is trying to obtain a copy of Miramontes' immigration papers from Los Angeles authorities.
Miramontes is a permanent U.S. resident. An application for a green card was made in 1988 in Los Angeles and granted in 1990, when Miramontes was 13, said Salt Lake's INS officer in charge, Meryl Rogers.
Miramontes has never been deported, though he has been convicted of two crimes in Utah. Officials say he has been arrested at least eight times, including:
- Oct. 19, 1994, in Nephi for possessing a firearm.
- Feb. 4, 1995, in Salt Lake City for interfering with a police officer. He was convicted of that charge and a 90-day jail sentence was suspended.
- June 27, 1995, in Salt Lake City for camping in a city.
- Aug. 30, 1995, in West Valley City for retail theft.
- Oct. 16, 1995, in Beaver County for theft. He was convicted on that charge.
- Nov. 15, 1995, in West Valley City for shoplifting.
- March 3, 1997, in West Valley City for aggravated assault. That case was dismissed for lack of witnesses.
- May 3, 1997, in Salt Lake City for possession of cocaine.
There are also reports Miramontes was familiar with gang detectives in Utah. State Department of Investigations officials declined to comment on Mira-mon-tes' possible gang connection, although one law enforcement officer also said Miramontes was an 18th Street gang member.
18th Street began when Hispanic gangs confronted juveniles in a Los Angeles detention center and the teens banded together for defense, said Los Angeles Housing Authority Police Sgt. Ramon Montijo.
"Nontraditional" in the group's acceptance of non-Hispanic members, 18th Street has grown rapidly and dangerously, Montijo said.
"It's very, very big. They've spread all the way to Portland. They are in Salt Lake City. They control most of the gang and drug activity in Albuquerque. They're down in Alabama. They're all over the United States now," Montijo said.
Many of those who are vulnerable to the gang are immigrants.
"18th Street is probably the biggest gang west of the Mississippi. They're big. They're violent. They're notorious," Montijo said.