A murder fugitive on Ohio’s “most wanted” list for nearly two decades was found working as a police officer in his hometown in Mexico — and has since been taken into custody, officials said.
Antonio Riano, who has been wanted for the shooting death of Benjamin Becarra, 25, since 2004, was taken into custody on Aug. 1 in Zapotilan Palmas, State of Oaxaca, Mexico, where he had been working as a police officer, according to US Marshals.
Riano, now 72, was listed as one of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office’s “Most Wanted” and profiled on the “America’s Most Wanted” television series in 2005.
Police said Riano shot Becarra outside Roundhouse Bar in Hamilton, Ohio, following an argument on Dec. 19, 2004, NBC News reported.
Riano had stepped in to help a bartender at the watering hole after the worker asked Becarra to leave the premises since he had been in a fight there weeks earlier, officials at the time said.
As Riano and Becarra argued, the bartender told them to take it outside, where gunshots later rang out and Becarra was found lying face down on the sidewalk.
Surveillance footage showed Riano fleeing the scene, however, authorities were unable to locate him. It was believed at the time that he fled the country to avoid prosecution.
Paul Newton, chief investigator for the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office, said the US Marshals originally attempted to capture Riano with a warrant in 2006 — but he evaded them by being down the street at a friend’s place, NBC News reported.
He said they ultimately able to track down Riano earlier this month by using Facebook and other social media.
Riano was flown from Mexico City to Cincinnati and taken to Butler County Jail, where he is being held pending court proceedings.
He is being held on two charges of murder and one count of felony assault.
He is due back in court later this month.
