Former San Jose Police Officers Still Fighting Crime in Retirement

They say once a cop always a cop, and a group of retired South Bay police officers is proving that.

It made headlines this week when San Jose’s police chief tackled a murder suspect who was trying to escape custody. But the story behind the headlines is offering a glimpse into how many factors go into tracking down a murder suspect. Factors that, in this case, include years of work by retired police officers.

Former San Jose police officers are still fighting crime in retirement.  It took the hard work of many people at the homicide unit and FBI to track down the murder suspect, including help from two former officers who started the efforts of the program fugitive watch.

It started with a show on the San Jose community TV channel in 1992. Since then, Steve Ferdin and Scott Castrujita said that tips to their service have helped nab more than 2,000 fugitives.

“Sleep with one eye open because we’re not going to forget about you,” Ferdin said.

The former police officers said it was a tip to their service, along with tireless work from the San Jose Police Homicide Unit and the FBI, that recently helped track down Hector Flores Arias.

Arias was wanted for a 2009 murder on Rocky Mountain Drive in East San Jose. He is also the man who recently made headlines after being extradited back to San Jose from Mexico.

On Monday, he ran out of the San Jose Police Department in handcuffs, and was ultimately tackled by the chief of police. It was an athletic action. Even the prosecutor applauded.

“We would like to commend Chief Esquivel for his quick action in making sure that this defendant would not go back into the streets,” District Attorney Paul Jhin said.

Fugitive Watch said the chief’s actions helped save six years of community tips and police work that it took to find arias.

“We know the first thing he’s going to do is head back to the border,” Castrujita said.

Now, thanks to the combined efforts of those who are on the job and those who never gave up the job, Arias is behind bars awaiting trial on murder and federal escape from custody charges.