Fugitive Wanted for North Hollywood Murder Arrested in Mexico

A man wanted for the North Hollywood murder of a 16-year-old male last year was arrested in Mexico on Tuesday, August 18th, announced Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles and William Bratton, Chief of Police in Los Angeles.

David Aranda Hernandez, 19, who resided in Los Angeles, was arrested by Mexican federal police, working with the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico, based on warrants filed in state and federal courts.

In August of 2008, detectives with the LAPD identified Hernandez as the primary suspect and gunman in the murder of Edward Satterstrom, a 16-year-old student at John Francis Polytechnic High School in North Hollywood. The District Attorney in Los Angeles County filed murder charges and detectives obtained a warrant for the arrest of Hernandez.

Shortly after the August 2nd murder, detectives established that Hernandez fled to Mexico. At the request of LAPD, the Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force joined the fugitive investigation. On September 5, 2008, a federal warrant charging Hernandez with Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

At the request of the FBI’s Legal Attache assigned to the Gualalajara Regional Office, Hernandez was arrested by officers with the Mexican federal police, Policia Federal Ministerial (PFM), formerly known as Agencia Federal de Investigaciones (AFI). Hernandez is currently in federal custody in Mexico and will be subject to the extradition process in Mexican federal court in Mexico City. Once Hernandez is on U.S. soil, it is anticipated that the U.S. government will dismiss the federal UFAP warrant and that the District Attorney in Los Angeles will prosecute Hernandez for murder.

This arrest was a result of an investigation by the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force in Los Angeles, which is comprised of members from the FBI, LAPD and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Parole Division, which received assistance from the Los Angeles County Probation Department. In Mexico, the investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Legal Attaché in Mexico City and its Guadalajara Regional Office, with considerable assistance provided by the Mexican government, specifically, the Mexican federal police, Policia Federal Ministerial (PFM), formerly known as Agencia Federal de Investigaciones (AFI).

For additional information concerning FBI fugitives, visit www.fbi.gov.