Holly MatkinHouston, TX – The gunman accused of murdering Harris County Precinct 5 Constable’s Office Corporal Charles Galloway in an ambush attack over the weekend is an illegal immigrant who had been on the run for 25 years in connection with a prior violent offense in the U.S.
Oscar Rosales, 51, was also wanted for murder in El Salvador, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg confirmed on Thursday, according to the New York Post.
Rosales was captured on Wednesday in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, through a cooperative effort among Mexican authorities, the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force, and the U.S. Marshals Service, KHOU reported.
He has been charged with capital murder in the Jan. 23 shooting death of Cpl. Galloway.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials lodged a detainer against Rosales, a resident of Guatemala, shortly after he was returned to Del Rio on Wednesday, FOX News reported.
“Rosales previously illegally entered the U.S. on an unknown date and at unknown location without inspection or parole by U.S. immigration officials and later fled to Mexico after allegedly murdering a Harris County (Texas) Constables Office deputy,” an ICE spokesperson confirmed.
He was transported back to Houston, where he was placed in Cpl. Galloway’s handcuffs, according to KHOU.
Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap and Assistant Chief Kevin Hubbard personally delivered accused murderer Oscar Rosales to the Harris County Joint Processing Center this evening. Rosales was brought back to Houston cuffed in slain Corporal Charles Galloway's own handcuffs. #hounews pic.twitter.com/48m08fnTiC
— Harris County Pct 5 (@HCpct5) January 27, 2022
Ogg said Rosales was arrested for aggravated assault for stabbing a man during a bar fight in Harris County back in 1995, KHOU reported.
He was sentenced to probation, but he promptly disappeared.
“He absconded and literally evaded detection and capture by law enforcement on that open warrant for 25 years,” Ogg said, according to the New York Post.
The Harris County warrant was issued for one of Rosales’ many aliases, according to the district attorney.
The suspect wound up making his way to El Salvador, where he is now wanted for a different murder charge, KHOU reported.
Ogg described Rosales as a “professional criminal” who has altered his identity several times since the Harris County warrant was issued 25 years ago, KHOU reported.
Rosales is now being held without bond, according to the New York Post.
Ogg said her office will seek the death penalty.
During his probable cause hearing in Harris County on Wednesday night, Rosales accused the seven law enforcement officers surrounding him of wanting to kill him, according to The Houston Chronicle.
“I know you don’t speak Spanish and I want to say whatever I think,” Rosales said. “All the officers and the security guy, they want to, like, try and kill me right here, they can do it. Whatever I don’t care. Everybody in this room has waited for this chance to hurt me.”
Here are the photos of Oscar Rosales being arrested by law enforcement in Mexico this morning. He fled from Houston after allegedly shooting and killing Corporal Charles Galloway during a traffic stop early Sunday. pic.twitter.com/U8fSPoeVBj
— Markie Martin (@MarkieMartin) January 26, 2022
Two other suspects, Reina Marquez and Henri Marquez, were arrested in Houston on Sunday on charges of tampering with evidence in connection with the case, KHOU reported.
They were allegedly seen wiping down the vehicle Rosales was driving when he murdered Cpl. Galloway, according to police.
Reina Marquez is Rosales’ wife, and Henri Marquez is his brother-in-law, according to KTRK.
The Marquez siblings were both being held on $100,000 bond.
Reina posted bond as of Wednesday afternoon, but remained in jail due to an immigration hold, KTRK reported.
“On Jan. 25, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Houston Field Office lodged immigration detainers with the Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office on Henri Mauricio Pereira Marquez, a 42-year-old noncitizen from Mexico, and Reina Azucena Pereira Marquez, a 40-year-old noncitizen from El Salvador, after they were both arrested by the Houston Police Department (HPD) for allegedly tampering or fabricating physical evidence with intent to impair,” ICE confirmed in a statement to FOX News.
Two other men, 43-year-old Jose Romel Hernandez Cruz and his 68-year-old father, Jose Santos Gutierrez, have been accused of pawning Rosales’ jewelry to aid his short-lived escape into Mexico, according to The Houston Chronicle.
The attack on Cpl. Galloway occurred in the 9100-block of Beechnut Street at approximately 12:45 a.m. on Jan. 23, KHOU reported.
The 47-year-old corporal was conducting a traffic stop on a newer, white four-door Toyota Avalon when the driver suddenly got out of his vehicle and “immediately fired upon the deputy multiple times,” Houston Police Department (HPD) Chief Troy Finner told reporters.
Bodycam and dashcam footage showed the suspect repeatedly shooting through the corporal’s windshield using a rifle, FOX News reported.
Harris County Precinct 5 Constable Ted Heap said the deadly attack occurred before Cpl. Galloway even had time to react or to defend himself, KHOU reported.
The corporal was pronounced dead at the scene, according to KSAT.
As we mourn the loss of our NYPD hero, more than 1,600 miles away in Harris County, Texas another law enforcement family is also experiencing great tragedy with the murder of Corporal Charles Galloway during a traffic stop. Together we stand tall, pray — and #NeverForget. pic.twitter.com/e4yMLb8oby
— Commissioner Sewell (@NYPDPC) January 25, 2022
Rosales fled the area immediately after the attack and remained on the loose until police apprehended him Wednesday.
Cpl. Galloway served the HCSO for more than 12 years, KHOU reported.
He worked in many positions within the Patrol Division during his lengthy career.
Cpl. Galloway was most recently assigned to the agency’s Toll Road Division, where he served as a field training officer on night shifts, KHOU reported.
Constable Heap said the corporal was a mentor to many of the department’s younger officers.
“There is a lot of very broken up officers who he meant a lot in their lives because he was the one sitting in the front seat with him,” the constable said. “He was the one teaching them what to do and how to get home safely to their families and here we are this evening with the roles reversed.”
Cpl. Galloway leaves behind his daughter and his sisters, KHOU reported.
