FORT SMITH -- Authorities arrested a fugitive on Wednesday who was wanted in connection with a homicide in Springdale.
Alexander Amador, 27, of Van Buren, who was the focus of a manhunt Tuesday night, was arrested near 1117 S. Fourth Street in Fort Smith at about 9 a.m. Wednesday, said Randy Coyne, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal for the Western District of Arkansas.
Coyne said that the Western Arkansas Fugitive Task Force has been working with the Springdale Police Department since Feb. 3 to locate and capture Amador.
Amador was one of three people involved in a Jan. 30 homicide in Springdale, as well as the last to be arrested, said Lt. Jeff Taylor of the Springdale Police Department on Wednesday.
Task force officers and deputy U.S. marshals tried to arrest Amador at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Coyne said. Amador was a passenger in a vehicle at the time, and the driver, a woman, fled from officers until the vehicle lost control and left the roadway near S. S and S. 12th streets. Amador, who fled from officers, was believed at the time to be armed, authorities said.
The task force contacted the Fort Smith Police Department and Sebastian County sheriff's office, requesting assistance in setting up a perimeter, Coyne said. Arkansas State Police, the Crawford County sheriff's office, and the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Police Department responded, assisting with personnel and equipment, including drone support. Officers searched the area for several hours Tuesday night, but did not find Amador.
Police received a phone call from a male Wednesday morning, saying he had spotted Amador near 1117 S. Fourth St., Coyne said. Officers responded, established another perimeter, and after a search captured a "wet and cold" Amador.
Coyne said on Tuesday that the female driver was released after she was detained.
Springdale police responded to the area of Huntsville Avenue and Newell Drive at about 2:48 a.m. Jan. 30 for a gunshots call, according to a Police Department news release. Officers found a man with a gunshot wound lying in a driveway on Newell Drive. They immediately began to perform CPR on him, but he died on the scene. The man was identified as Joseph Soto, 23, of Springdale.
The other two suspects who authorities say were involved in the homicide, identified as Ramon Flores, 28, of Lowell and Daniel Iraburo, 22 of Fort Smith, were arrested Feb. 4 and Feb. 6, respectively, on suspicion of accomplice to capital murder, according to Taylor on Wednesday. They are both being held in the Washington County jail.
State Desk on 02/14/2020