Latest news with #Lepe
Miami Herald
2 days ago
- Miami Herald
Mom and kids abducted by man working for cartel, feds say. He's convicted in MT
A man accused of trafficking drugs for a Mexican cartel was convicted of federal kidnapping charges after prosecutors said he abducted a mother and her two daughters, taking them to several U.S. states before Mexico, where he 'locked them in' a home and abused them. Roughly six years later, in 2023, Adolfo Vargas Lepe kidnapped another woman he knew for years from her Wyoming home and took her to Montana, where he used to live, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Montana. Now, a federal jury in Billings has found Lepe guilty of three counts of kidnapping and one count of making an interstate threat after a three-day trial, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a June 5 news release. 'Lepe traumatized his kidnapping victims, including physically and sexually assaulting them, shooting one of them, and transporting them around the United States and into Mexico,' U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in a statement. 'While engaged in that conduct, he also distributed methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine in communities in Montana and elsewhere,' Alme added. Attorneys appointed by the court to represent Lepe, who used to live in Roberts, didn't immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment June 6. Roberts is about a 220-mile drive southeast from Helena, Montana's capital. On June 4, Lepe's trial ended with the jury finding him not guilty of kidnapping the mother of the two girls, but guilty of kidnapping her daughters, one of whom he's accused of sexually assaulting, and the other woman, court records show. Lepe began dating the mother of the two girls in 2017, before Lepe revealed 'he transported drugs for the cartel' after she found 'a significant amount of methamphetamine,' prosecutors wrote in court filings. Afterward, prosecutors said he kidnapped the family, took them to multiple states, then confined them to a Mexico residence. Lepe wouldn't let the woman 'leave his sight because of her knowledge of his drug trafficking,' according to prosecutors, who said he 'threatened to kill her and have cartel members kill her family.' The woman was repeatedly beaten and threatened with a gun by Lepe, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The other woman he kidnapped in 2023 was also beaten and abused, including by Lepe pistol-whipping her and shooting her in the legs, according to prosecutors. He also 'imprisoned her in a dog kennel for hours on end' and 'beat her with bats and metal bars,' prosecutors wrote in court filings. The woman managed to escape Lepe by fleeing his home, to a local bar to alert the police, according to prosecutors. Before making it to the bar, prosecutors said she hid for hours in dirt located behind bushes. He was spotted driving two days later by Carbon County Sheriff's deputies, who were led on a 'high-speed chase' by Lepe until his truck rolled over and he was taken into custody, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. Later, an investigation resulted in authorities finding narcotics linked to Lepe, including 'one pound of cocaine and two pounds of meth' and '12.5 pounds of meth and roughly 10,000 fentanyl pills,' prosecutors said. Lepe, who's facing life in prison, is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 2, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Yahoo
Aurora Police release dashcam, bodycam footage in fatal traffic stop shooting
AURORA, Ill. (WGN) — The Aurora Police Department released audio and video footage from an incident where a 19-year-old man was shot and killed by police after he allegedly injured an officer while fleeing from a traffic stop. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Man fatally shot by police after allegedly injuring officer in traffic stop ID'd On Wednesday, March 19, Geneva police officers encountered 19-year-old Christopher Lepe at around 1:30 a.m. in the 1500 block of South Randall Road after noticing what officers said was a car parked suspiciously. According to police, an officer approached Lepe in his vehicle and asked him to exit the car after noticing he may have been intoxicated. Instead of getting out of his vehicle, police said Lepe drove off and dragged that officer a short distance before escaping. A short time later, APD officers found Lepe heading south on Lake Street near Galena Boulevard, and this is where video footage from APD begins. Dashcam footage from an APD cruiser shows police trying to stop Lepe in his vehicle at a stop sign, before he speeds off and officers initiated a pursuit onto northbound Route 25. Police said as Lepe approached Ashland Avenue, officers deployed stop sticks. Bodycam footage from an APD officer in the release confirmed the use of stop sticks. A short time later, the video shows Lepe's vehicle coming to a complete stop and his vehicle being surrounded by three police cruisers, one of which is from the Kane County Sheriff's Office. After officers yell, 'hands up,' Lepe opens the door to his vehicle with what appears to be a long gun in his hands. A still image then shows what police describe as Lepe seemingly pointing the weapon at an officer. In the following dashcam footage, police can be heard yelling 'Get on the ground' before officers fire shots. Officers then assembled a team with a K-9 to approach the vehicle before rendering aid until paramedics rushed Lepe to a nearby hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. Authorities said police later recovered a weapon at the scene. Paramedics transported the injured officer to a local hospital with serious injuries before their condition was upgraded to stable. The two officers who fired their service weapons, as well as a third officer present at the time of the shooting, were placed on administrative leave. APD Police Chief Keith Cross issued the following statement alongside the audio and video release: 'Today, we are releasing key portions of dispatch audio, including a mutual aid request and a conversation between a 911 dispatcher and a Tri-Com dispatcher, along with video footage from the officer-involved shooting that took place on Wednesday, March 19, 2025. To protect the privacy of those involved, some audio has been redacted, and faces have been blurred. We want to be upfront—this footage contains graphic content and may be difficult to watch. However, transparency is a cornerstone of our commitment to this community, and we believe it's important to share this information. 'We understand there are still many questions surrounding this incident. At this time, the case remains under independent investigation by the Kane County State's Attorney and the Kane County Major Crime Task Force, which means certain details must be withheld. 'This is a difficult moment for our community, and we do not take that lightly. Our hope is that by sharing this video, we can provide greater clarity about what happened. We appreciate your patience and understanding as this process unfolds.' – APD Police Chief Keith Cross An independent investigation being conducted by the Kane County State's Attorney's Office and the Kane County Major Crime Task Force remains ongoing. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
21-03-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Candlelight vigil held in Aurora for 19-year-old killed in officer-involved shooting
Around 100 people gathered for a candlelight vigil in Aurora for Christopher Lepe, 19, on Thursday evening. Held outside the Aurora Police Department headquarters at 1200 East Indian Trail Road in Aurora, the vigil – made up of community members and Lepe's family – remembered Lepe, who was identified Thursday by the Kane County Coroner's Office as the individual fatally shot by Aurora police on Wednesday following a vehicle chase. Silver, star-shaped balloons were given out to those attending the vigil. A community member set up candles in the center of the Aurora Police Department parking lot, where the group had gathered. Several people carried signs reading 'We are Christopher' and 'Justice for Christopher.' At the vigil, Lepe's mother, Yanet, expressed her distress at not having seen Lepe's body yet to identify him as her son. 'Above everything else, I need to know that that is my son,' organizer Pablo Puga said on Yanet Lepe's behalf, translating her words from Spanish to English. 'I don't know if that is my son.' At Thursday's vigil, attendees demanded answers about the circumstances of Lepe's death. In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a man who police say displayed a weapon following a car chase was shot and killed by Aurora police on the city's East Side, according to past reporting. According to a press release from the Geneva Police Department that Geneva officials said was a related incident, the man had previously been stopped by Geneva police for allegedly being intoxicated. The man refused to exit his car and drove away, dragging the officer a short distance in the parking lot on the 1500 block of South Randall Road, the release said. The Geneva officer was taken to Northwestern Medicine Delnor Hospital in Geneva with serious injuries, but is listed in stable condition, the release from Geneva police said. Around 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Aurora police responded to a mutual aid request attempting to locate a man wanted in connection with an aggravated battery to a Geneva police officer, according to past reporting. Upon locating the individual using the license plate of his vehicle and a description of the suspect, Aurora police pursued him after they said he refused to stop. Officers ultimately stopped the individual near Route 25 and Ashland Avenue in Aurora, police said. Police said the driver displayed a weapon, and two Aurora police officers discharged their guns at the driver, who was struck by gunfire, a release from the police department said on Wednesday. Officers performed aid on the man until he was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later, officials said. The man killed was later identified as Christopher Lepe, 19, of Aurora, according to a press release from the Kane County Coroner's Office. The Kane County Major Crimes Task Force has launched an investigation into the officers' actions. No officers from the Aurora Police Department will be involved in the investigation, officials have said. Three officers from the city have been placed on administrative leave – two who were involved and one who was present during the shooting, which is standard procedure for officer-involved deaths, according to a press release from the Aurora police. At the vigil on Thursday, Lepe's family and community members criticized the information that had and hadn't been released to the public about the shooting. 'We do find it very, very suspicious that the footage … still has not been released,' Puga said at the vigil. Chants of 'We want to see the video' and 'Let her see her son' erupted throughout the crowd as Lepe's family and community members spoke. Body-worn camera footage of the shooting will not be released yet, Kane County State's Attorney Jamie Mosser said at a press conference at Aurora City Hall on Wednesday. Mosser said Wednesday that the investigation will wait at least 72 hours before interviewing the involved officers, and that the SAFE-T Act requires police officers not view this footage before giving a statement or making a police report about an incident like this. Mosser said they plan to release the footage at a later date. Officials at Wednesday's press conference said they cannot yet release the identity of the officers involved or any details on the weapon police said the driver displayed. 'We don't want to jump to any conclusions,' George Gutierrez, of Aurora, said at the vigil. 'We know that they like to cover things up. At the same time, if it was justified, we still want answers.' At the vigil, Lepe's brother, Brian Lepe, said that a Kane County detective showed him an image of Lepe during the incident. The Aurora police released two still images from police dashboard cameras from the incident on Thursday evening. They reiterated that body-worn camera footage would be released at a later date 'to comply with provisions of the SAFE-T Act and not interfere with the independent review process.' 'You see this mother crying, and you have the nerve to release a blurry picture,' Puga said outside the police department about the photos released by the Aurora police. At around 8 p.m., the individuals gathered at the vigil Thursday marched away from the police department down Indian Trail Road chanting 'justice for Chris.' They returned to the police department building at about 8:30 p.m., still chanting.
