Santa Rosa police arrest 'most wanted' murder suspect after 12-year search

Murder suspect Ricardo Puentes, one of Santa Rosa’s most wanted criminals, was arrested early Wednesday outside Redding, ending a 12-year search for the man suspected of gunning down a drug rival in 2005.

The elusive Puentes successfully avoided capture over the years by changing his appearance and using disguises as he slipped in and out of Santa Rosa to visit his family. Using weight gain or loss, a shaved head or long hair, even dressing as a woman - for years Santa Rosa police detectives expressed frustration at the lengthy chase, saying at times they’d missed catching the 5-foot, 9-inch Puentes by just hours.

“It’s been 12 years of never giving up on this guy,” said Santa Rosa detective Sgt. Josh Ludtke. “Detectives who have retired passed the torch. Guys who weren’t even around when the murder happened have put in tireless hours into finding this guy. For it all to come together, everybody is pretty excited. It’s been a lot of good work by a lot of agencies.”

Puentes was wanted for the Jan. 15, 2005, shooting death of Semere Girmai, 27, of Santa Rosa. In what police called an execution-style slaying, Puentes and two others walked up to Girmai at a gathering at a Bennett Valley apartment where Puentes, the triggerman, shot Girmai in the head, face and chest, according to court records.

The motive involved a cocaine and methamphetamine distribution feud by men with gang ties, police said.

Police said the three suspects, who had all been recognized, scattered. One quickly turned himself in, but charges were dismissed for lack of evidence. In 2007 the second accomplice was arrested in Florida. After two mistrials, Omar Chavez took a plea deal for involuntary manslaughter, got a five-year prison sentence and ultimately was released in 2011.

“Over the years we’ve followed hundreds of tips,” Ludtke said. “We found places he’d been, people he’d been in contact with. He either got away or something happened and we’d have to start all over.”

In 2011, detectives announced a $2,500 reward for help in Puentes’ arrest and conviction. He also was placed in the top 10 of the city’s new “most wanted” list, which described him as being “armed and dangerous.”

“Oftentimes we’d get intelligence he was in town or in town dressed as a woman, in town trying to visit one of his children,” said retired Sgt. Steve Fraga who worked with retired detective Brian Reynolds on the case off and on from 2007 to 2012.

Fear hampered their success, Fraga said. “People were very reluctant to give him up.”

There also was extensive help from the FBI as well as a federal arrest warrant for murder, tightening the law enforcement net in case Puentes was stopped out of state or fled the country.

But Puentes kept a few steps ahead of the law. He moved frequently, traveled light and supported himself by growing and selling marijuana in Mendocino County, Ludtke said.

Last week, new information led detectives to Mendocino County. They missed him by about a day, Ludtke said. Earlier this week, they tracked Puentes to a rural residence outside Redding.

Before dawn Wednesday dozens of law enforcement officers, including the Shasta County sheriff’s SWAT team, deputies, sheriff’s officials, FBI agents and Santa Rosa detectives converged on the remote home. Puentes had been staying there with his girlfriend, their baby and her two children, but the woman and children were gone.

After daybreak, the SWAT team surrounded the residence and called out to Puentes through an open window.

Realizing he was surrounded, Puentes picked up his baby boy and stood in a window, Ludtke said.

“He was refusing to come out. It was kind of a hostage situation for a little bit,” Ludtke said.

Negotiations lasted about 10 minutes before Puentes came out, handed the baby to an officer and was arrested.

At first giving a false name, Puentes admitted his identity, Ludtke said.

The man had a new neck tattoo, but otherwise “he looks very similar to his wanted poster.”

Years ago, during court hearings for the other two men, Girmai’s family and friends from his Eritrean community, including Alfa Michael, attended proceedings.

Michael said Wednesday news of the arrest spread quickly through the community.

“We thought there was no hope. It’s devastating it took this long but hopefully justice will be served,” she said.

Girmai, who grew up in Santa Rosa and graduated from Piner High School, had a job for a time at a local medical device company but when workers were laid off, he lost his footing, Michael said.

“He was a great guy,” she said. “He wasn’t just selling drugs. He fell on hard times.”

Puentes is being held in the Shasta County Jail and will be transferred to Sonoma County for prosecution, Ludtke said.