Citizen Staff Writer
FERNANDA ECHÁVARRI
fernanda@tucsoncitizen.com
A second man has been arrested in connection with the 2007 invasion of the home of an off-duty Border Patrol agent, police said Friday.
Michael A. Lopez, 20, was arrested Thursday and booked into the Pima County Jail on one count of first-degree murder, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson police spokesman.
Early on the morning of Dec. 9, 2007, police were called to the home of an off-duty Border Patrol officer, Pacheco said.
The agent told police four armed intruders forced their way into his home. He said one fired a gun at him as the agent retreated.
The agent then got his duty weapon and “returned fire as the suspects fled the area in a Kia (sport utility vehicle),” Pacheco said. He said the agent, who immediately called 911, didn’t know whether he hit any of the intruders.
About 2 1/2 hours later, a police officer saw smoke near Campbell Avenue and Virginia Street, just north of Drexel Road. A Kia SUV was “fully engulfed in flames,” Pacheco said, adding that bullet holes were found in it after the fire was extinguished. Police suspected it was the vehicle in the home invasion.
Detectives arrested Mark A. Escobar Jr., 20, who they believe to have been the driver, Pacheco said.
Lopez remained at the Pima County Jail on Friday afternoon on a $1 million bond and Escobar remained there on a $500,000 bond.
Second man arrested in 2007 invasion of Border Patrol agent’s home