OAN Staff Abril Elfi
11:49 AM – Sunday, August 18, 2024
A man who has been one of Ohio’s “most wanted” fugitives for nearly 20 years has been found working as a police officer in his hometown in Mexico.
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United States Marshals have revealed that on August 1st, Antonio Riano, who has been wanted for the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra since 2004, was taken into custody in Zapotilan Palmas, State of Oaxaca, Mexico, where he had been working as a police officer.
Riano, now 72, was listed as one of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office’s “most wanted” and profiled on the “America’s Most Wanted” television series in 2005.
According to reports, Riano shot Becarra outside Roundhouse Bar in Hamilton, Ohio, following an argument on December 19th, 2004.
Following the argument between Riano and Barraca, the bartender told them to take it outside, where shots later began, and Becarra was found dead.
Riano was seen running from the scene on surveillance footage, but the authorities were unable to find him. At the time, it was thought that he left the nation to avoid being charged.
According to NBC News, Paul Newton, chief investigator for the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, said Riano eluded U.S. Marshals when they tried to apprehend him in 2006 using a warrant because he was staying at a friend’s house across the street.
He claimed that by utilizing Facebook and other social media, they were eventually able to locate Riano earlier this month.
Riano was transported to Butler County Jail in Cincinnati by air after being flown from Mexico City, where he is being held without bond pending legal proceedings.
He is being held on two charges of murder and one count of felony assault and is due back in court later this month.
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