User:Red Slash/EH
Elias Huizar was a former police officer who was fired due to charges of rape and is a fugitive from the law, on the run after being accused of murdering his ex-wife and girlfriend in West Richland, Washington. On April 23, Huizar fired at officers during a pursuit in Eugene, Oregon in which he shot at officers before killing himself. The 1-year-old son Roman Santos of his late girlfriend Angelica, is safe.[1]
Early life and first arrests
Huizar attended the Dickinson State University in North Dakota and participated in college sports there. He was arrested twice in 2008, once for brandishing a knife and threatening students, and then again two months later for criminal trespass. He was never tried for either alleged offense, but he was barred from competing in college sports.[2]
Yakima
Huizar moved to Yakima and was hired as a police officer in July of 2013, his arrest history not sufficient to prevent him from becoming an officer of the law.
He coached wrestling in his spare time; one of the underage girls that he coached, Amber Rodriguez, would later become his first wife.
Alleged sexual assault of a child
Huizar was assigned to be a school resource officer at Washington Middle School. While there, in 2019, he allegedly engaged in illicit sexual relations with a 13-year-old girl.[3]
Huizar resigned, though an official investigation failed to uncover any clear evidence of the claims against him. The girl who claimed she was in a relationship with him was ultimately expelled.
Huizar was transferred, against his will, to another middle school in the district. Later that year, he and Rodriguez divorced.
"Spiraling out of control"
Huizar was placed on leave sometime prior to April 2021, and he moved to West Richland, about 45 minutes to the southeast. The police chief in Yakima described Huizar as "spiraling out of control".
He had at least one altercation at William Wiley Elementary School, where Rodriguez worked as a paraeducator, that resulted in police being called to the scene, and which was later characterized as being a "domestic violence incident".
By April 2021, a memo was circulated among the WRPD warning them about Huizar.
Huizar was placed again on leave in July 2021. An investigation into him by the Union Gap Police Department (who was referred the case by the Yakima Police Department) was "unable to discover sufficient evidence to pursue a criminal complaint", with the only solid evidence of wrongdoing being "failing to report the domestic violence incident at Wiley Elementary".
Nevertheless, Huizar was either fired or resigned in February 2022, and deemed ineligible for rehire.
Hired by Richland School District
As he was leaving Yakima Police Department, he applied for a position as a substitute teacher with the Richland School District (Washington), which overviews education in the city of West Richland, as well.
As none of the arrests or allegations against him ever resulted in criminal convictions, his background check returned clean, and he was hired and began work the same month he left the Yakima Police Department.
Teenage "girlfriend"
By 2023, Huizar was living with a 17-year-old girl, who was the very same girl who had been expelled from her school in Yakima at the age of 13 after claiming she had been in a sexual relationship with Huizar.
When she was 15, she became pregnant with Huizar's child, and gave birth to Roman Huizar in 2022.
Rape allegations
On February 3, 2024, Huizar's 17-year-old girlfriend invited a 16-year-old friend over to their house. After providing them with alcohol, Huizar attempted to rape the 16-year-old; when Huizar's girlfriend woke up and discovered this, she and the 16-year-old victim attempted to escape. Despite Huizar's attempt to block them in, they were successful at getting away.
The police were called, a SWAT team was sent, and Huizar refused to cooperate. The SWAT team did successfully infiltrate, and Huizar was arrested and over $15,000 dollars in cash was seized.
Bail was set at just $200,000, and Huizar was promptly released that same evening. He pled "not guilty" later that month.
Four days later, the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission placed Huizar's certification as a law officer as Under Review.
Both Rodriguez and a female minor filed for and received a restraining order against Huizar that same month.
On April 19, Rodriguez filed to modify a shared custody agreement she had with Huizar.
Court date and double murder
On April 22, Huizar did not show at his court date for the rape case. Instead, that afternoon, he visited the elementary school that Rodriguez worked at. Sometime between 3:00 PM and 3:20 PM, he is alleged to have murdered Rodriguez with a gun in front of the school during student dismissal, shooting two to five times.
According to law enforcement, he then fled to his residence, murdered his girlfriend, and then left with his son, Roman.
He sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound on April 23 and his condition is unknown as of now.
References
- ^ Sykes, Jillian; Rose, Andy (2024-04-23). "Ex-officer accused of killing ex-wife and 17 year old girlfriend, killed himself after chase, and his missing son is safe, police say". CNN. Retrieved 2024-04-24.
- ^ https://tumbleweird.org/elias-huizar/
- ^ https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/crime/article285252677.html