A Denver murder fugitive wanted in a 1982 road-rage shooting outside a bar was arrested earlier this month on suspicion of drunken driving in Ontario, Calif., authorities said.
Manuel Garibay, 60, was arrested Aug. 4 after he swerved across a yellow line in Ontario, according to police.
Authorities did a routine criminal background check, discovered there was a 25-year-old murder warrant for his arrest and placed him in the San Bernardino County Jail.
Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Garibay is wanted in the March 14, 1982, slaying of Jesus Gutierrez Sanchez, 26.
Jackson said police are seeking Garibay’s extradition to Colorado.
“We have a cold-case unit that is committed to finding these cold cases,” Jackson said. “We want to know we did everything we can to bring justice in these cases.”
According to a Denver Post article, Sanchez was shot outside the Latin Village bar in the 100 block of Santa Fe Drive at about 1 a.m.
The bar manager told police two men were in a traffic accident near the bar and that after the crash they went inside the bar to argue, the article said.
Garibay was not involved in the accident but became involved in the argument, which had moved back outside, Denver Detective Russ Brooks said at the time. Garibay fled after the shooting.
He was arrested earlier this month while driving a White Ford Ranger, Ontario police said. He admitted that he had lived in Denver at the time of the shooting but denied involvement, authorities said.
Rob Leveque, a reporter for the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario, Calif., contributed to this report.
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.
