Arrest Made In Connection With Robbery That Led To Fatal Police Shooting

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A teenage suspect in a robbery that led to the deadly police shooting of an illegal immigrant has been arrested while a second suspect remained at large.<br/><br/>Patrick Achilefu,

Saturday, April 14th 2007, 1:55 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- A teenage suspect in a robbery that led to the deadly police shooting of an illegal immigrant has been arrested while a second suspect remained at large.

Patrick Achilefu, 19, was arrested after a traffic stop Friday and was jailed on complaints that include robbery with a firearm, feloniously pointing a weapon, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and driving under the influence.

Achilefu is suspected of being involved in two robberies in which $300 was taken from one person who was then beaten with a pistol and the robbing at gunpoint of three victims of a $70 check, a cell phone and a $600 pendant.

Meanwhile, police confirmed that Mario Fernando Torres Gomez, 34, the man who was shot and killed after running from police who were investigating the robberies, was not involved in the hold-ups.

Officials also confirmed that Torres Gomez had been in the country illegally in August 2006, when he was returned to Mexico by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

He was "voluntarily" removed from the country, meaning he was escorted across the border and told not to return illegally, an ICE spokesman in Dallas said.

Torres Gomez had commented that if police tried to take him into custody, they would have to shoot him, said Scott Wood, an attorney for police officer Dale O. White, who shot Torres Gomez.

Police say Torres Gomez jumped from the back window of an apartment and ran as officers were surrounding an apartment complex while investigating the two robberies.

With police chasing him, Torres Gomez ran under a highway overpass and White pulled up in a car and ordered him to stop, said Officer Jason Willingham.

White told other police officers at the scene that Torres Gomez reached into his waistband. In response, White said, he fired one shot, hitting and killing the man.

White, 55, was expected to speak to investigators Monday about the shooting. White was treated for high blood pressure at a hospital shortly after the shooting, Wood said, but he was released after a few hours.