Community Mourns LAPD Officer Fernando Arroyos

LOS ANGELES, CA — The funeral service for Officer Fernando Arroyos of the Los Angeles Police Department, who was fatally shot while off duty on Jan. 10, was held Wednesday at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills.

The service began at 9:30 a.m. at the Hall of Liberty Mosaic Deck, the LAPD reported. It is not open to the public.

Arroyos, 27, was gunned down during a robbery at 9:15 p.m. on Jan. 10 in the 8700 block of Beach Street in the unincorporated Florence-Firestone neighborhood. Authorities said Arroyos was targeted while he was house-hunting with his girlfriend.

Arroyos is survived by his mother, father, girlfriend, grandfather and stepfather.

On Jan. 27, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against three alleged gang members and one associate for the crime. The three men and the 18- year-old girlfriend of one defendant were charged with violating a federal racketeering statute.

Charged with violent crime in aid of racketeering to increase and maintain position within the Latino gang based in South Los Angeles were:

• Luis Alfredo De La Rosa "Lil J" Rios, 29;
• Ernesto "Gonzo" Cisneros, 22;
• Jesse "Skinny Jack" Contreras, 34; and
• Haylee Marie Grisham, 18, Rios' girlfriend.

Rios and Contreras are set to be arraigned on Thursday, Grisham on Monday, and Cisneros on Feb. 10 in Los Angeles federal court.

According to a complaint filed Jan. 13 by FBI Special Agent Seamus Kane, Rios admitted his involvement in the killing in an interview with Los Angeles County sheriff's detectives, saying he and the other defendants were driving around looking to "make money," which he further explained meant to rob a person of property or money.

Arroyos suffered a single gunshot wound, ran from the area and collapsed in an alley. Responding deputies found bystanders performing CPR on Arroyos. The deputies loaded him into a patrol car and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

City News Service