The Associated Press
MARION, Ohio (AP) - Officers arrested a suspect in the death of a sheriff’s deputy shot when responding to a disabled vehicle, authorities said Friday.
Juan C. Cruz, 20, whose last known address was in Marion, was arrested Friday night and charged with aggravated murder in the death of Marion County Deputy Brandy Winfield, Sheriff Tim Bailey said.
Bailey said authorities received an emergency call at 8:55 p.m. that Cruz was seen trying to break into an apartment in this community about 40 miles north of Columbus.
Cruz and a second man, Mariano Cortez, were fighting inside the apartment when officers broke in, Bailey said.
Cortez 38, of Marion, was arrested and charged with obstructing justice and felonious assault on a police officer after officers subdued the two men.
Cruz and Cortez were being held without bond in the multicounty jail Friday night, Bailey said. Both men were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Delaware County Prosecutor David Yost had filed a felonious assault charge late Thursday against Cruz.
Radio traffic from Winfield stopped shortly after he stopped two men walking along state Route 423 and called in their identifying information, authorities said. He was found in his overturned cruiser in a ravine beside the highway about 33 miles north of Columbus.
Officers rushing to Winfield’s aid nearly hit the minivan parked on the road’s shoulder, Bailey said, but the minivan left while they tried to help Winfield.
The other suspect, whose name deputies would not release, was in custody on an unrelated immigration charge, Sheriff Tim Bailey said. Authorities said they were still investigating to determine what role each person played in Winfield’s death.
Cruz had been indicted in 2003 on charges that he raped, assaulted and kidnapped a female acquaintance, Yost said. The case was dropped after the alleged victim recanted her statement and then disappeared, he said. But Yost reviewed the file Thursday and determined it was possible to pursue the assault charge without the alleged victim.
Winfield was the first Marion County deputy sheriff to die in the line of duty in 30 years, Bailey said.
Friends and family of Winfield described him as a hardworking family man dedicated to helping others.
His father, Rick, and younger brother, Cory, are officers with the Marion Police Department.
Winfield’s funeral will be Monday. A 24-hour honor guard was at the funeral home holding Winfield’s body.