Emigdio Preciado Jr.
Emigdio Preciado Jr. is an American criminal and former fugitive. He was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on March 14, 2007, as the 485th person on the list. After nine years on the run, he was captured in Mexico on July 17, 2009, while living under the alias Regalo Castaneda-Castaneda and working as a fisherman. He is now serving a 25-years-to-life sentence in a California prison, with the earliest possible parole in 2032.
Preciado has a long history with the South Side Whittier street gang and has been arrested for murder, robbery, grand theft, and receipt of stolen property. He has convictions for narcotics and firearms offenses and was on parole for a drug-related crime at the time of the shooting case.
On September 5, 2000, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies Michael Schaap and David Timberlake were stopped by a van that opened fire with an automatic weapon. Deputy Timberlake escaped unharmed, but Deputy Schaap was seriously injured. Four people were charged in connection with the attack, and Preciado was identified as the shooter.
Preciado was seen in Tepuzhuacan, Mexico, in 2000 and again in Guadalajara in 2006. He reportedly removed his tattoos in Mexico to hide his identity. After his capture, he was extradited to Los Angeles in January 2010, arraigned in February 2010, and in July 2011 he pleaded guilty to two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on peace officers and to using a firearm in a felony. He received a 25-year-to-life sentence and will be eligible for parole after serving at least 85% of it, with the earliest parole in 2032.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 14:55 (CET).