Tuolumne County murder suspect arrested in Utah; allegedly shot teen near Sonora High
A murder suspect from Tuolumne County was arrested early Saturday in Utah, according the the sheriff’s department.
Twenty-year-old Joshua Rodriguez of Tuolumne was taken into custody Saturday shortly after midnight, according to a post on the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department page. Rodriguez was wanted for the shooting death of 17-year-old Eric Aguiar of Sonora. The teenager was shot and killed near Sonora High School on Sept. 16.
Sheriff’s detectives determined Rodriguez was the shooter over the last several days, authorities said, and discovered he had fled to Utah where he had been hiding. The department contacted police in Centerville, a town north of Salt Lake City.
According to press release on the Centerville Police Department Facebook page, Tuolumne officials alerted them Friday afternoon about the arrest warrant for Rodriguez and that he was “hiding out in a camping trailer behind a residence in Centerville.”
The department deployed the Bountiful Metropolitan SWAT team, which executed the warrant. Rodriguez was found with a woman in a camper in the backyard of a residence. According to Utah police, a flashbang (a less-lethal flash grenade) was used to apprehend the suspect, and no people were injured or property damaged in the arrest.
Centerville Police said a knife, cell phone and marijuana were collected from the scene. The female who was with Rodriguez was detained for questioning, but released without charges.
Rodriguez was taken into custody and booked into the Davis County Jail. He is being held in Utah awaiting extradition back to Tuolumne County.
