AURORA, Colo. — A suspect who is in the United States illegally and has been deported multiple times was arrested on Thursday with the help of Flock cameras after he allegedly shot a driver on Interstate 225, Aurora police say.
On Friday morning, the Aurora Police Department (APD) announced that it had arrested Celin Villeda Orellana, 38, on Thursday and recommended charges of attempted first-degree murder, first-degree assault, menacing and illegal discharge of a firearm, which are all felonies. The 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office will determine formal charges.
The victim in the case is "clinging to life" and not expected to survive much longer, Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said during a press conference on Friday.
Chamberlain and Chief of the Investigations Division Mark Hildebrand held the press conference to share more information on the suspect and the case.
Orellana's arrest stemmed from an incident early Saturday. Around 1:14 a.m. that day, patrol officers with APD responded to multiple reports of a single-vehicle crash on southbound I-225 near E. 6th Avenue. Officers determined that the driver had been shot multiple times, including twice in the neck and once in the arm, before crashing into the jersey barrier, Chamberlain said. The man was brought to a local hospital and is currently on a respirator. Chamberlain said it appears like he will die in the near future.
When officers arrived at the crash scene and began to process it, they had very little information to go off of, Chamberlain said. Based on good detective work and their federal partners, they have now identified a suspect, a weapon and a motive, Chamberlain said.
APD investigators used Flock Safety cameras with license plate readers to see where the victim had traveled that day. While backtracking his movements, they noticed something new.
"Not only did we locate the victim, but we located somebody following our victim — somebody who was chasing our victim throughout the night, stalking our victim as he proceeded through his day without knowing that somebody was chasing him around the city and was going to do him harm later that night," Hildebrand said.
Police determined the other vehicle — the suspect vehicle — was registered to Orellana, who was also identified as the suspected shooter, APD said. They started to develop probable cause for an arrest.
On Thursday afternoon, APD officers arrested Orellana during a traffic stop near 114th Avenue and Havana Street. Officers searched his vehicle and found a firearm and spent shell casing, Hildebrand said. Because of this, Orellana was transferred to ICE for possible federal charges related to possession of a handgun.
Chamberlain stressed that even though APD did not yet have an arrest warrant ready, they were still able to take the suspect into custody because of those possible federal charges and their partnership with federal agencies on the case. He said police wouldn't have been able to hold Orellana when they contacted him Thursday without this.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement took Orellana into custody. He remains there as of Friday morning.
Chamberlain said Orellana and the victim knew each other, and both men knew a woman who was also connected with the case. It appeared to be a "relationship issue," he said. While few details were available beyond that, Chamberlain said she was relocated for safety reasons.
APD found that Orellana, who is a Honduras national, was planning to flee the country when he was arrested. He was not legally in the United States as of the time of Saturday's incident, Chamberlain said.
He had been deported three times — in 2007, 2018 and 2020. The latter case came after he was arrested in Denver on child sexual assault charges. Chamberlain said he returned to the United States about 18 months ago.
“When you think of the impact he had to the prior victims and the impact he had on Saturday to the victim that is now clinging (to) life, it’s unconscionable to think that this is something we would ever accept," Chamberlain said. "... The Aurora Police Department does not focus on immigration, as all municipal law enforcement agencies do not. But we do focus on people who victimize others... It’s not about immigration. It’s about crime.”
Hildebrand acknowledged recent conversations and concerns in the community about the use of Flock cameras. This week, Denver7 reported on Denver's new five-month extension with Flock Group, Inc., which prohibited data from the cameras from being shared with the federal government.
“Without this technology, without the use of our LPRs (license plate readers) and our cameras, we would have not been able to get a quick resolution to this case," he said, adding that he is thankful for the technology. “In our community, we use it for criminal purposes and it just got a violent person off our streets."
Chamberlain asked the community to look at the positive side of these cameras, pointing to this case.
The investigation is ongoing. Anybody with information is asked to contact Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. Tipsters can remain anonymous and earn a reward up to $2,000.
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