AURORA | Aurora police on Thursday arrested a Honduran national they say was attempting to flee the country and is accused of shooting and critically injuring a motorist on Interstate 225 last Saturday.
Celin Villeda Orellana, 38, was arrested during a traffic stop near East 11th Avenue and Havana Street by members of the APD Fugitive Apprehension and Narcotics Unit, police said in a statement Friday.
Police credited new and controversial Flock Safety cameras across the city for helping investigators identify and track down Orellana.
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 was charged yesterday with multiple felony charges, including attempted first-degree murder, 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.
The arrest stems from a shooting reported as a single-car crash at about 1:15 a.m. Saturday 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.
Police said the shooting was not random.
On Friday, 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.”
Thank God for President Trump, Secretary Noem, Border Czar Homan, and all of the dedicated employees of the various agencies and APD.
https://deflock.me/map#map=14/39.558425/-104.884071
illegal cameras violate 4th amendment I advise paintball guns
How illegal? Anything/anyone in public can be photographed or videoed.
What happens when the paintball misses? (I am excellent shot. Paintballs do not spin for accuracy.)
After checking out the deflock page as you suggest with your link it pretty well explains your reasoning that leads to crippling law enforcement. The first thing is the ACLU “threat” notion. This technology has become necessary as society continues to prove it can’t turn out members that can function within normally in it. Most on this city council recognize this reality, of course, some on it are slow learners. It’s just the way it is.
“For a detailed explanation of how ALPRs are a threat to privacy, see this ACLU article as well as this EFF article on ALPRs.”
“There is not even a moderate degree of correlation between ALPRs and stolen vehicle recoveries, let alone any apparent casualty”
“Our findings indicate that, when small numbers of LPR patrols are used in crime hot spots in the way we have tested them here, they do not seem to generate either a general or offense-specific deterrent effect”.
LOL, yeah, we know the only reason you’re mad about those cameras is because they might be used to arrest your political allies like this cockroach. It sure isn’t out of any Constitutional principle.
Thank you, Aurora Police, for catching him.