A man suspected in the deadly hit-and-run last month in Douglas County, Kansas, is now in custody in Indiana. Authorities said Jose Alfredo Galiano Mesa, 28, of Overland Park, was taken into custody in Martinsville, Indiana, by US Marshals and Indiana State Troopers. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office had a warrant for Mesa’s arrest. Deputies say he hit a motorcycle around 5:19 pm on May 14 at East 1900 Road and Kansas Highway 10 and drove off. Brooklyn Brouhard, 10, of Eudora died from her injuries in the crash.Her grandfather, Barry Larson, 54, was also injured. “The way that (Mesa) left the scene made it pretty clear that he knew,” Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister told KMBC 9. “The way he had actually passed some vehicles on shoulders and accelerated away.” Authorities say Mesa was working in Lawrence earlier that day on a painting job and was heading back to the Kansas City area. “He was owed money for the work he’d done that day and he didn’t even stick around to get paid,” said Armbrister. Armbrister says his team found the van Mesa had been driving at a Johnson County, Kansas business and identified Mesa as the suspect two days after the crash. “We were very afraid he was gonna try to leave the country,” said Armbrister. He said Mesa is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, and that’s why his office decided not to release his identity until after his arrest. “It was our fear that he would flee the country if we made him famous for all the wrong reasons, and we are poised to do so if it appeared he was moving south,” the sheriff said in a statement. “However, through tireless investigation, we knew he was still in the Midwest and could not risk pushing him out of the area, and due to those efforts, we were able to bring him safely into custody.”Armbrister told KMBC 9 he understands the audience’s frustration. “Folks felt like they could be out there helping us, which the community was a huge help in locating the van and all that stuff,” he said, “but unfortunately, we had to make a call and I’m very happy that it worked out the way it did.”He says Mesa will be charged with 2nd-degree murder. “We have some more information that will come up later about what he had been doing throughout the day and stuff which will deeply factor into the charges,” he said. “It’s factors that will go towards recklessness and neglect.” Armbrister says although the arrest brings some relief, he knows Brooklyn’s family still faces a difficult road. “Obviously, it doesn’t bring justice, it doesn’t bring Brooklyn back,” he said, “but it does at least move it back into the next chapter where they can get what little closure they can have.”The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is working on getting Mesa back to Kansas to face charges.
A man suspected in the deadly hit-and-run last month in Douglas County, Kansas, is now in custody in Indiana.
Authorities said Jose Alfredo Galiano Mesa, 28, of Overland Park, was taken into custody in Martinsville, Indiana, by US Marshals and Indiana State Troopers.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office had a warrant for Mesa’s arrest. Deputies say he hit a motorcycle around 5:19 pm on May 14 at East 1900 Road and Kansas Highway 10 and drove off.
Brooklyn Brouhard, 10, of Eudora died from her injuries in the crash.
Her grandfather, Barry Larson, 54, was also injured.
“The way that (Mesa) left the scene made it pretty clear that he knew,” Douglas County Sheriff Jay Armbrister told KMBC 9. “The way he had actually passed some vehicles on shoulders and accelerated away.”
Authorities say Mesa was working in Lawrence earlier that day on a painting job and was heading back to the Kansas City area. “He was owed money for the work he’d done that day and he didn’t even stick around to get paid,” said Armbrister.
Armbrister says his team found the van Mesa had been driving at a Johnson County, Kansas business and identified Mesa as the suspect two days after the crash.
“We were very afraid he was gonna try to leave the country,” said Armbrister. He said Mesa is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, and that’s why his office decided not to release his identity until after his arrest.
“It was our fear that he would flee the country if we made him famous for all the wrong reasons, and we are poised to do so if it appeared he was moving south,” the sheriff said in a statement. “However, through tireless investigation, we knew he was still in the Midwest and could not risk pushing him out of the area, and due to those efforts, we were able to bring him safely into custody.”
Armbrister told KMBC 9 he understands the public’s frustration. “Folks felt like they could be out there helping us, which the community was a huge help in locating the van and all that stuff,” he said, “but unfortunately, we had to make a call and I’m very happy that it worked out the way it did.”
He says Mesa will be charged with 2nd-degree murder.
“We have some more information that will come up later about what he had been doing throughout the day and stuff which will deeply factor into the charges,” he said. “It’s factors that will go towards lacklessness and neglect.”
Armbrister says although the arrest brings some relief, he knows Brooklyn’s family still faces a difficult road.
“Obviously, it doesn’t bring justice, it doesn’t bring Brooklyn back,” he said, “but it does at least move it back into the next chapter where they can get what little closure they can have.”
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is working on getting Mesa back to Kansas to face charges.
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