By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
A man on the run from the law and charges dating back to an August 2006 drive-by shooting in Centralia was located in El Salvador and is expected to be returned to Lewis County, the Centralia Police Department announced today.
Colbert A. Salmeron, now 24, was arrested the airport in Houston, Texas, by U.S. marshals shortly after he arrived in the country, according to a news release.
Centralia police detectives and the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office were notified on Sunday Salmeron was in custody, Centralia Officer Chris Fitzgerald said. She wasn’t sure if his arrest occurred on Sunday or before.
Salmeron was arrested about a month after the incident on the 500 block of North Tower Avenue but was released on bail and failed to show up for court in May 2007.
The shooting was believed to be gang-related. Salmeron, a Centralia resident, was associated with the Little Valley Lokotes, Fitzgerald said. Nobody was injured.
In the following months, Centralia police dealt with at least a half dozen gang related shootings, of cars, homes and people. The most high profile case was in the summer of 2007 when somebody in a vehicle sprayed gunfire along an entire city block in downtown Centralia.
In that case, a Centralia teenager, Guadalupe Solis-Diaz Jr., was convicted of several counts of first-degree assault and sentenced to more than 90 years in prison.
For the past four years, detectives working with confidential sources and other law enforcement agencies have been working to track Salmeron down and concluded he was in El Salvador, according to Fitzgerald.
A tip following a February airing of the case on America’s Most Wanted in February revealed Salmeron was staying with a relative in the Central American country, Fitzgerald said.
According to Fitzgerald: U.S. Marshals contacted El Salvadoran authorities and advised Salmeron was wanted for a drive-by shooting. They determined he was a U.S. citizen and deported him.
U.S. Deputy marshals were waiting for him when he arrived at the Houston International Airport.
Salmeron was identified as the primary suspect shortly after the Aug. 26, 2006 incident.
That evening, several individuals were standing around a pickup truck parked in a lot of a fitness center when a red Ford Mustang drove by, slowed and someone inside it fired several shots that hit two vehicles and shattered the window of a nearby building. No persons were hit.
A warrant for Salmeron’s arrest was issued and in September 2006 he was located in Inglewood, California. He was being harbored by a family member there, according to Fitzgerald.
He was extradited back to Washington and appeared before Lewis County Superior Court judge, but was released on bail and not seen again, until now.
Fitzgerald said arrangements are being made to bring Salmeron to Lewis County. He is charged with four counts of first-degree assault and one count of drive-by shooting.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter