Suspect in 2011 shooting death in Modesto arrested in Mexico, returned to Stanislaus
A suspect in a 2011 homicide in Modesto was located and arrested in Mexico and is being held without bail in the Stanislaus County jail.
Tony Aurelio Gutierrez Macias, 26, has been wanted in the shooting death of Samuel Gallardo, 22. The victim was on a date with his girlfriend and another couple on Nov. 26, 2011, when they stopped at a taco truck in front of the El Paraiso bar on Crows Landing Road.
No sooner had the couples sat down to eat at one of the picnic benches than a car full of men pulled into the parking lot, according to a Bee report at the time. At least four got out of the car and began fighting with Gallardo. Within minutes, he was shot. The suspects got back into the vehicle and fled.
A July 2017 Bee story said that one of two suspects arrested in the case was released for lack of evidence and that two others — Macias and Tomas Solorio, then 27, remained at large.
A news release Tuesday from the attorney general of the state of Michoacán said Macias, a U.S. citizen born in San Jose, was arrested in the city of Uruapan, where he had taken refuge.
It said the arrest was on a warrant out of Modesto, accusing Macias of murder and carrying a firearm in public. Macias was wanted by the FBI because he illegally fled prosecution.
Other charges against Macias include participation in a criminal street gang and assault on a person by means of force likely to result in great bodily injury.
This story was originally published March 5, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
