AURORA | Police say a man targeted by a Honduran national and shot while driving on I-225 in Aurora has died from his injuries, and the suspect now faces murder charges.
Aurora police last week arrested Celin Villeda Orellana, 38, who they say was attempting to flee the country and is accused of shooting the unidentified motorist Oct. 18.
Orellana was arrested during a traffic stop near East 11th Avenue and Havana Street by members of the APD Fugitive Apprehension and Narcotics Unit after being identified by a controversial Flock Safety cameras across the city.
Police used Flock cameras equipped with license plate readers to identify a suspect vehicle, which was registered to Orellana. Police said that led them to identify him as the suspect in the shooting.
Police said he as charged with first-degree murder and multiple felony charges including first-degree assault, menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm.
“Following the traffic stop, the ongoing investigation revealed Orellana…was making plans to flee the country,” Aurora Police spokesperson Gabby Easterwood said in a statement last week.
The shooting was reported as a single-car crash at about 1:15 a.m. Oct. 18 on I-225 near East Sixth Avenue. When officers arrived, they found a vehicle that had crashed into the highway’s jersey barrier.
The driver, an adult man, had multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to a local hospital, where he remains with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Last week, Police Chief Todd Chamberlain held a press conference and told reporters that Orellana tailed the shooting victim on Aurora streets and the highway for some time before firing into his car. He said an unidentified female was associated with the two men and that likely was the motive for the shooting.
Working with federal immigration agents, Aurora police transferred Orellana into custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on possible federal charges, Easterwood said.
“This case is a clear example of why our partnership with Homeland Security Investigations and ICE is so critical,” Aurora police Chief Todd Chamberlain said in a statement. “Without their cooperation, we would not have the ability to hold this dangerous individual accountable for his actions here in Aurora.”
Chamberlain did not explain why Orellana, facing several felony charges, including attempted murder, could not have been held without bond, or substantial bond, in county jail, other than to say that police did not have a warrant for Orellana’s arrest at the time he was pulled over for a traffic stop.
Chamberlain said Orellana had a load handgun with him in the car, allowing officers to arrest him on federal firearm charges, and then immediately transfer him over to ICE for detention.
Chamberlain said the suspect’s immigration status played a role in keeping him detained. “The criminal nexus between his immigration status and the violent crime he committed allowed us to take lawful action to ensure he remains in custody today,” he said.
Court records show Orellana has been deported three times, in 2007, 2018 and 2020. Aurora police said the most recent deportation followed his arrest in Denver on child sexual assault charges involving a victim younger than 15.
Chamberlain took the opportunity to laud the city’s Flock camera system, pointing to recent events where police were able to identify and arrest suspects in crimes involving cars on city streets.
“It enhances the operation, it improves the mission,” Chamberlain said, speaking to current controversy in Denver over the use of the Flock camera system, as well as other cities across the country. “We’re able to do investigations that wouldn’t occur otherwise. We are able to change the dynamics of human life based upon the use of technology.”
The game is changing. APD is not backing away from helping ICE. Was US citizenship something in the victim’s purview? How bout the girlfriend’s status?
“The driver, an adult man, had multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to a local hospital, where he remains with life-threatening injuries, police said.” “Remains”-So-you-say???
Thank you, APD, for finding and preventing the alleged murderer from escaping justice.
Glad thathe woman is OK and perhaps has learned the kind of man with whom she was associating.
Had he escapd to Honduras, would Honduras have done anything about him?
Another death brought to you by the lawless open border policy of Liberals. The Democratic party is the party of death.