Drug dealer executes New Mexico cop at side of road after slyly getting out of his pick-up with an AR-15 during traffic stop
By Rory Tingle
Daily Mail
April 11, 2021
This is the moment a violent drug dealer jumped out of his truck and shot a father-of-three cop dead during a routine traffic stop before dying in a hail of bullets after a 40-mile chase.
Sickening footage shows violent criminal Omar Felix Cueva, 39, stepping out of the driver's side of his Chevrolet pick-up truck with an AR-15-style rifle before firing one shot at New Mexico officer Darrian Jarrott over the rear of the vehicle.
Omar Felix Cueva
Jarrott, 28, fell to the ground, at which point Cueva walked over to him and him several more times, including once point-blank in the head. He then took off in his truck on a 40-mile police chase that saw him die in a hail of bullets.
Seconds before the officer had asked Cueva - who was on his way to a drug deal - to hand over his rifle, which appears to have sparked his murderous act.
Jarrott stopped Cueva, who police say had a 'violent criminal history' including drugs charges involving cocaine and meth, on February 4 on the eastbound Interstate 10 between Deming and Las Cruces after noticing his windows were tinted.
After walking over to the passenger-side window of Cueva's white pick-up, footage shows the officer saying politely: 'Good afternoon, sir. My name is Darrian Jarrott. I'm with New Mexico State Police. The reason for the stop is your window tint is a little too dark.'
Cueva then mutters something intelligible - lapel and patrol car video released by police shows.
Jarrott, a father of three small children whose partner was pregnant at the time of his death, says: 'Yeah, mind if I open the door? Or if you want to roll down the window more.'
In a brief conversation lasting around three minutes, the officer asks if Cueva had insurance, to which he replies 'yes', and confirms his name, before asking the criminal to come over to his patrol car so he could run checks.
Cueva opens his door, at which point Jarrott notices his rifle and asked, 'You have a firearm on you, do you mind if I take that off you, for my own safety?'
The officer then says, 'Let's go to my vehicle OK', at which point Cueva gets out from the driver's seat holding the rifle - which Jarrott is unable to see because his view is blocked by the pick-up.
As both men slowly walk parallel with each other towards the patrol car, Cueva suddenly draws the rifle, with Jarrott shouting 'oh s***' before being hit.
The criminal then shoots him several more times off the camera and slowly pulls away, leaving the officer's dead body by the side of the road.
Less than a minute after Cueva fled, a Homeland Security Investigations agent arrived on the scene and notified dispatch that Jarrott was down.
A 40-mile chase ensued, during which Cueva exchanged fire with officers from New Mexico State Police, the Cruces Police Department, the Dona Ana County Sheriff's Office, and US Border Patrol.
Cueva's truck is seen reversing wildly down the highway after being spun out by a patrol car.
Cueva leaps from the truck with his pistol drawn and crouches behind the hood of a police car as an officer kneels opposite him behind the trunk.
Dozens of shots are fired before Cueva is eventually seen lying beside the door of his truck as dozens of armed troopers crowd around aiming their weapons at him.
Las Cruces police officer Adrian De La Garza was wounded in the final shootout and was flown to the hospital by helicopter but his injuries were not life-threatening.
NMSP Chief Robert Thornton fought back tears at a press conference as he mourned officer Jarrott who he called 'our fallen hero.'
Jarrott had been on the force since 2015 after working as a Transportation Inspector for the New Mexico Department of Public Safety.
The chief said Cueva was a man with a 'violent criminal history that included drug trafficking and other felonies.'
He was first arrested age 13 for vandalism, then for drug trafficking at 21, and possession with intent to distribute crystal meth at age 29.
This final arrest saw , Cueva and two other men led police on a chase — at times exceeding 100 miles per hour — on the interstate before crashing into a fence and fleeing into a nearby ravine, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
The men were arrested and found to have a loaded assault rifle and a duffel bag containing 15 pounds of methamphetamine, worth about $252,000.
Police have not yet commented about what was found in Cueva's pick-up or during a search of his home after he killed Jarrott.
Democrat New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham ordered flags across the state to fly at half-mast following the tragedy in February.
'I am shocked, heartbroken and enraged by the loss of this public servant. I am praying for the local officer who was also shot and injured,' the governor said in a statement.
'I am horrified as we grieve another life cut down, another family crushed by senseless violence in our state.
'Violent crime is a scourge on New Mexico, and the men and women who step up and put on the badge to protect our communities fight it with everything they've got every day.
Greg Baca, the Republican leader of the state Senate, joined the Governor in condemning the shooting.
'The senseless violence gripping our state has taken the life of a devoted public servant and law enforcement officer,' he said in a statement.
'Tonight, we send our prayers and deepest condolences to the family members and friends of Officer Darian Jarrott.
'Words cannot express the depth of gratitude we owe to those who risk their lives for our protection, and we stand with the entire law enforcement community in grieving this tragic loss.'
4 comments:
They should hang the asshole's dead body on general principles, and leave it hanging from a lamp post until the parts start to fall off.
Bob, I totally agree with you. Just wish you had expressed the same sentiment when Goines and the Houston cops murdered the couple in a no knock raid that was bogus.
Gary, I wish more information could be released on the Goines incident. So far, It's been abnormally quiet. It's hard to comment on a subject when you don't have all the information. There must be a lot going on with this case because the Speedy Trial Act seems to have taken a back seat.
As far as the NM Trooper killing goes, it's pretty open and shut. Criminal kills Trooper. Criminal is killed. Of course, I also think firing squads should be brought back in death sentences.
Trey, I thought you believed everyone was entitled to due process? Shouldn't the police have allowed this scumbag to go free until a thorough investigation was complete?
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