Cold Case Arrest: Man Arrested Nearly 14 Years After Escondido Murder

ESCONDIDO, CA – A man arrested nearly 14 years after allegedly fatally stabbing another man during a fight outside an Escondido bar is scheduled to be arraigned next Friday, authorities announced.

According to the Escondido Police Department, Hector Mendieta was booked Wednesday into the Vista Detention Facility on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of 35-year-old Bartolo Velador.

Lt. Justin Murphy said officers responded to a reported assault on Sept. 10, 2002, in a parking lot at Dee's Sports Tavern at 426 N. Rose St. in Escondido. Mendieta had fled the scene and Velador died as a result of his injuries.

Detectives later identified Mendieta, then 21, as Velador's alleged killer and determined that the suspect had fled south of the border, Murphy said.

Mendieta remained at large until last June, when the U.S. Marshal’s San Diego Fugitive Task Force located him in Mexico. Following a seven-month extradition process, he was flown to the U.S. and turned over to the Escondido Police Department.

Mendieta, now 35, is being held without bail pending arraignment.

City News Service contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of the Escondido Police Department