For Immediate Release: September 19, 2008

BILLBOARD PROFILING TOP TEN FUGITIVE EMIGDIO PRECIADO INSTALLED ON BORDER OF SAN DIEGO/TIJUANA - REWARD OFFERED

 

The FBI has purchased a billboard, visible to vehicles traveling across the Tijuana/San Diego border, as part of its ongoing publicity campaign to find and capture Emigdio Preciado, a fugitive on the FBI’s national list of “Ten Most Wanted,” announced Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. The billboard, which will be posted for approximately three months, displays three photographs of Preciado and contact numbers for the FBI in Los Angeles, the United States Consulate General in Guadalajara, Mexico, and a special number established by the FBI's Fugitive Task Force to directly respond to tips, (888) CANT-HIDE.

This is the most recent of multiple publicity campaigns launched by the FBI in Los Angeles, many of which have proven successful. Information to date has consistently placed Preciado in Mexico, where some of his relatives reside. This billboard is visible to approximately 175,000 people who are crossing the border every day.

Emigdio Preciado, Jr., a.k.a. “Junior,” “Trigger,” “Spooky,” and “Snyper,” is the alleged triggerman in the September 5, 2000 attack on Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department Deputies Michael Schaap and David Timberlake who were on patrol in Whittier, California, in a marked Sheriff’s patrol car. On that date, Schaap and Timberlake saw a 1979 Chevrolet van traveling toward them. As the van approached, the deputies noticed the van’s headlights were not functioning properly and proceeded to stop the driver of the vehicle. When the van came to an abrupt stop, the deputies came under immediate attack from a burst of automatic gunfire. The gunman, one of four occupants traveling in the vehicle, appeared from an open door in the van, according to Sheriff’s detectives. Preciado, an American citizen, was identified as the alleged shooter.

Deputy Timberlake was fortunate to escape the gunfire without injury; however, Deputy Schaap was shot in the forehead and was severely injured. Preciado and the other occupants of the van fled the scene after the shooting and although the weapon was not found, detectives did recover twenty-one rounds from an assault rifle at the crime scene.

On November 9, 2000, numerous local warrants were filed against Preciado, a documented member of the Southside Whittier Mexican street gang, and three other defendants in Los Angeles County Superior Court. On January 29, 2001, a provisional warrant for Preciado’s arrest was filed in Mexico City by the United States Office of International Affairs at the United States Embassy, Mexico City.

In August 2001, after detectives with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department had determined that Preciado had fled the state of California, the FBI obtained a federal warrant after Preciado was charged with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 1073.

While Preciado has remained at large, three of the four occupants in the van have been captured; one in Mexico and two in South Whittier, California. At the time of the shooting, Preciado was wanted by the State Department of Parole for violation of the terms of his parole relative to a narcotics violation.

Despite being featured in local, national and international media outlets, Preciado has eluded capture. Preciado has an extensive criminal history including narcotics and firearms violations, a 1992 arrest for murder, robbery, grand theft and receipt of stolen property. Preciado is a career criminal and repeat offender.

Emigdio Preciado is described as a Hispanic male, 38 years old, with brown hair and brown eyes. Preciado is 5’5” and when last seen, 180 pounds. Although Preciado was last seen with a horizontal scar on his left ear, a black mole below his right eye, and tattoos of “Susana” and “Alexa” on his left chest, he may have had plastic surgery to remove the scars and tattoos.

The Los Angeles County Supervisor’s Office recently raised the reward offered for information leading to the capture and conviction of Preciado to $50,000. As a member of the FBI’s List of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, the FBI is also offering a reward of up to $150,000 for Preciado’s capture. All information will be kept confidential. Preciado was added to the FBI’s list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives in 2007 and is the 485th person to be added to the historic list which has been in existence for 58 years.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of Emigdio Preciado is urged to contact their local FBI office or police department. Internationally, citizens with information about Preciado are asked to contact the nearest United States Embassy.

Additional information concerning Preciado and the FBI’s List of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives can be found by visiting http://www.fbi.gov/wanted/topten/fugitives/preciado_e.htm.

The FBI's fugitive task force in Los Angeles, comprised of agents with the FBI and detectives with the Los Angeles Police Department and the California State Department of Parole, Division of Adult Parole Operations, is conducting the fugitive investigation of Preciado. Placing an emphasis on subjects of homicide investigations, this task force combines the resources of local and federal law enforcement to track fugitives. The task force pursues fugitives of local crimes who flee the state of California and apprehends fugitives from other districts, including foreign countries, who surface in the Los Angeles area. The Southern California region, due to its diverse ethnic make-up and geographic territory, is an attractive destination for individuals evading capture.

The attempted murder case against Preciado is being investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

 CONTACTS:

FBI Press Office: Laura Eimiller: (310) 996-3343
Lourdes Arocho (310) 996-4402 (Spanish Speaker)
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department: Steve Whitmore: (323) 526-5246