SWAT Team Corners Fugitive Gang Member

Two-week search ends in forceful holdup at a Visa Inn

After two weeks of searching for gang member fugitive Jeremiah Figueroa, 31, Vista Sheriff and a SWAT team evacuated Figueroa from a motel and arrested him Thursday night.

The nearly 4 hour-long standoff began shortly after 7 p.m. at the La Quinta Inn on the 600 block of Sycamore Ave in Vista. Sheriffโ€™s deputies cornered Figueroa in his motel room as motel guests were evacuated.

For three hours, negotiators encouraged Figueroa to peacefully exit the room. At approximately 10:15 p.m., SWAT members ignited a flashbang, or stun grenade, into the room. Figueroa fled to the balcony, but still would not surrender.

Deputies shot him with a beanbag gun, then fired dozens of pepperballs at him. The commotion allowed the deputies to rush in and take Figueroa into custody at approximately 10:30 p.m.

Figueroa was first taken to a nearby hospital for observation.

Meanwhile, officials searched his room and found one gun. Guests and surrounding business owners were allowed back into their rooms at 10:50 after nearly 4 hours of being evacuated.

The arrest was the culmination of a two-week search for Figueroa, who was wanted on a $2 million warrant for several crimes. Law enforcement officials say he is a known gang member as well.

He is now jailed on $2.1 million bail on suspicion of attempted kidnapping, attempted robbery, attempted carjacking, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and second-degree burglary, according to the San Diego Sheriffโ€™s inmate detail website.
 

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