Rape suspect, immigration fugitive captured after six month manhunt
DUMFRIES, Va. (ABC7) — A six-month manhunt for an undocumented teen accused in a Falls Church rape has ended after he was arrested in Dumfries Monday morning.
Ronald Fabricio Herrera Contreras was arrested in the Grayson Village mobile home community near the intersection of I-95 and Rt. 234.
Residents say they saw officers in the neighborhood very early in the morning, and one man said he had seen Herrera Contreras hanging around the neighborhood.
Herrera Contreras was charged with rape, abduction with the intent to defile, gang participation and assault and battery.
He is accused of ordering a 15-year-old girl to come with him on a walk on July 13 of last year. After about 15 minutes, Herrera Contreras allegedly dragged the girl into some woods in the 7300 block of Lee Highway and raped her.
Police believe Herrera Contreras is in a gang, and say he threatened the girl and her family both before and after the alleged rape.
Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement told ABC7 News that Herrera Contreras had been picked up in June 2015 near Hidalgo, Texas, after illegally entering the country. He was ultimately given what ICE calls a “final order of removal,” but he reportedly never left the U.S.
ICE said capturing Herrera Contreras was considered a high priority because of the serious crime he was accused of, his alleged gang membership, and because he had allegedly entered the country illegally not that long ago.
Although ICE has been making headlines for immigration raids throughout the country, a spokesperson says nothing beyond routine enforcement has been going on in Northern Virginia.
Also, Monday morning’s arrest was local, not federal. Fairfax County Police say one of their detectives working with the Northern Virginia Gang Task Force spotted Herrera Contreras in Dumfries.
Although the arrest happened in Prince William County, a police spokesperson there said Fairfax County is in charge of the case and Prince William police officers were there in a supporting role.
