Suspected prison gang member arrested
news@wood.cm
Ronald Herrick Riva, whom local officials labeled as an Aryan Circle gang member from Midland, was apprehended in Hawkins Friday, Jan. 24, after a lengthy manhunt.
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Suspected prison gang member arrested
Ronald Herrick Riva, whom local officials labeled as an Aryan Circle gang member from Midland, was apprehended in Hawkins Friday, Jan. 24, after a lengthy manhunt.
After Riva fled from Hawkins police officers, Chief Manfred Gilow contacted a helicopter pilot and began searching from the air while Constable Kelly Smith and canine Juma tracked the fugitive on the ground.
Juma tracked Riva through several abandoned houses and about 30 cars, boats and trailers. The track ended at Highway 14.
Riva has a violent criminal history and was considered armed and dangerous. The community was advised to keep their doors locked and call 911 if they saw him.
In an effort to keep citizens safe, law enforcement remained in the area to continue searching.
After information was put out on social media, a local citizen reported Riva’s location. Smith, Deputy Jeff Hammond, Juma, a Hawkins officer and a DPS CID officer caught the suspect next to Fred’s Store on FM 14, on the opposite side of the highway from where Juma’s track ended.
Riva was booked into jail on six warrants from Tom Green County including assault causing bodily injury, two criminal trespass charges, evading arrest, failure to identify and giving false information, and driving with invalid license with previous conviction or suspension.
Felony charges added by Hawkins Police Department include evading arrest with previous conviction, failure to identify and giving false information, two charges of possession of controlled substances, possession of marijuana and two charges of possession/delivery of a dangerous drug.
Bonds were set totaling $153,000.
“The strongest, most effective weapon in law enforcement is cooperation,” stated Smith on Facebook as he thanked Hawkins Police Department and Chief Gilow for being an outstanding example of cooperation between agencies.
Aryan Circle is a white supremacist, Neo-Nazi prison gang spread throughout many U.S. correctional facilities.
It was founded in Texas prisons as a splinter group of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
By 2008, it became the second largest prison gang in Texas and has a nationwide membership of more than 1,400 members.
