Three members of a South Los Angeles street gang were sentenced in connection with the robbery and fatal shooting of an off-duty Los Angeles Police Department officer who was house shopping with his girlfriend two years ago, officials announced late last week.
The deadly encounter unfolded on the night of Jan. 10, 2022, as the three men, members of the L.A.-based Florencia 13 or F13 gang, were driving around the Florence-Firestone neighborhood and spotted Fernando Arroyos and his girlfriend.
“The defendants decided to rob Officer Arroyos because he was wearing gold chains around his neck,” a press release from the United States Attorney’s Central District of California Office stated.
The defendants are:
- Luis Alfredo de la Rosa Rios, aka “Lil J” and “Lil Malo,” 30
- Ernesto Cisneros, aka “Gonzo” and “Spooky,” 25
- Jesse Contreras, aka “Skinny Jack” and “Flaco,” 36
Rios and Cisneros got out of the truck, approached Arroyos and patted him down before taking his chains and wallet, which contained the officer’s LAPD ID card, according to the DOJ.
Rios later approached Arroyos’ girlfriend, identified in court documents as “A.M.,” patted her down and also stole her belongings.
After robbing the victims, Rios and Cisneros opened fire. Arroyos, 27, was struck by single bullet, which killed him, the DOJ detailed.
Officials say that earlier the same day, Rios and Contreras committed armed robberies against two victims outside a bar within F13’s “territory.”
The trio pleaded guilty in July 2023 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
On July 19 of this year, U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson ordered the three men sentenced to the following:
- Rios was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $31,000 in restitution
- Cisneros was also sentenced to 50 years in federal prison and ordered to pay nearly $29,000 in restitution
- Contreras was sentenced to 35 years in federal prison and ordered to pay more than $31,000 in restitution
“Fernando Arroyos should be with us today, helping to protect a city he was ready and willing to give his life for. Yet he died in a way none of us could have imagined” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “With Officer Arroyos’ senseless killing, we lost a protector, and most importantly, his family lost someone who meant the whole world to them.”
Additionally, Haylee Marie Grisham, 20, an F13 associated and Rios’ girlfriend at the time, pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering for participating in the fatal robbery. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9 and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, along with the detectives from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated the incident. LAPD also provided substantial assistance.