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Fort Myers officer killer’s criminal history began at 15
Even after Abel Arango was shot by Fort Myers police, it appears he’s still in Collier County jail, where his childhood friend remains under the alias Abel Arango
Javier Ricardo Perez Tapia aka Abel Arango.
Abel Arango
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Officer Andrew Widman's funeral
Scenes from the Wednesday, July 23, funeral of Fort Myers Police Officer Andy Widman.
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The man who shot and killed a Fort Myers police officer was laid to rest in front of family and friends gathered at Naples Manor Funeral Home last week.
No music was played at the services, but everyone exchanged memories of 26-year-old Abel Arango, who some remembered as polite and respectful. He lay in a casket wearing pants and a dress shirt. He was cremated, but his family wouldn’t say what they planned to do with his ashes.
Buried with Arango are answers to what may have caused him to snap on the street in downtown Fort Myers, killing Officer Andrew Widman, a husband and father of three children.
Arango’s mother, Justa Garcia, died of cancer in 1998, when he was 16. By then, he’d already wracked up a few arrests, beginning with marijuana possession and assault and battery when he was 15. He never graduated from Lely High School and lived with his father, Lorenzo, who remarried eight years ago. Lorenzo Arango declined comment last week as he stood inside the bright blue home in Naples Manor where Arango grew up.
Family members said authorities didn’t notify them about the killing and many heard about it through the news because the officer’s death was broadcast statewide.
“I heard about it through Crystal,” Arango’s older sister, Raquel, 33, said referring to Crystal Turcotte, the woman her brother was fighting with moments before Widman interceded and Arango shot him in the face. Raquel Arango said, Turcotte told the media Widman was a hero because he’d saved her life.
The news left Arango’s family in shock.
“We don’t know why it happened,” Raquel Arango said. “We’re still in shock because he’s not the way the news is portraying him. When we heard the news, we didn’t want to believe it because that wasn’t him.”
Arango left behind a large family and two babies, possibly three.
Many came to pay their respects at his funeral, Raquel Arango said.
“It was so packed, not everybody could stay there,” she said. Her brother’s friends cut across all races — black, white, Hispanic, Asian and came from Naples and as far as Miami and Fort Lauderdale, she said.
His five sisters attended, even the two who remained in Santi Espiritu, Cuba, when the rest immigrated here in 1991, she said. Arango was the youngest in the family.
“The police officer didn’t deserve to die the way he did, but my brother didn’t deserve what happened to him, either,” Raquel Arango said. “We’re deeply sorry for the loss. ... I just want to tell the news to please let both rest in peace.”
A week after the shooting, State Attorney Stephen B. Russell wrote Fort Myers police Major Doug Baker to say the four officers who shot at Arango on July 18 in downtown Fort Myers were justified in their actions because they were defending themselves and others. Arango had been fighting with his girlfriend at the time. Fort Myers police have said that just before Arango shot 30-year-old Widman, he’d vowed to “go out Miami-style” — and to take an officer with him.
“I don’t know what happened,” Arango’s childhood friend Javier Ricardo Perez Tapia, 28 said as he sat in the Collier County jail, awaiting a probation violation hearing next month. “That was my best friend since middle school.”
The two went through East Naples Middle School and Lely High School in the 1990s.
Both got in trouble with the law. Both have lengthy criminal records and violent pasts. Perez and Arango became entangled in the criminal justice system after both used each other’s names as an alias.
Perez Tapia, 28, remains in Collier County jail, awaiting sentencing next month for violating probation on a drug charge. Records show he’d used Arango’s name when he was arrested last year. Both were drug dealers, and his last conviction also appears under Arango’s name.
“God bless him. I feel bad that it happened,” he said, putting his head in his hands after learning Arango also had used his name as an alias. “He was a good man with a good heart. I’m shocked.”
***
By age 16, as his mother was dying of cancer, Arango had a long criminal history — even before he was sent to prison for a violent robbery at The Pawn Shop on April 3, 1998, and the burglary of Rex TV and Appliance three months earlier.
The violent holdup, which he committed with three fellow gang members, prompted officials at the Department of Juvenile Justice to write a letter to Collier County officials, saying that with his prior history and the seriousness of the new offense, his needs would be better served in the adult prison system.
Records show he’d already compiled a series of arrests as a juvenile — grand theft, assault and battery, carrying a concealed firearm, grand theft-firearm, burglary, possessing marijuana, and driving while his license was suspended. He was deemed a juvenile delinquent — a conviction — when he violated probation by ignoring his curfew and was charged with resisting arrest. So he was prosecuted as an adult.
When Circuit Judge Thomas Reese sentenced him to six years in state prison for the pawn shop holdup, followed by 15 years of probation, Arango also was sentenced that day to concurrent five-year terms for the burglary and weapons charges.
In prison, Arango penned neatly handwritten letters to Circuit Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock, signing them Arango and Arrango, even though his family uses the former. His series of motions complained about everything from not being given credit for time served in a juvenile detention center and Collier County jail before being sent to prison, to the INS wanting to deport him before he’d served probation, to his need for a typewriter.
“The Dept. of Corrections has decided typewriters are a luxury inmates can do without for access to the courts,” he wrote in Dec. 2000.
Circuit Judge Daniel Monaco denied his motion, pointing out that sentencing papers gave him credit for time served, although the corrections system may not have applied it.
He later obtained a typewriter and suggested that the prosecutor could have duped the sentencing judge.
“If the state knew that the defendant would be subjected to INS deportation when they initiated the plea deal negotiations, then could this also not be considered as a fraudulent representation before the court?” he asked in a four-page typed letter, asking the judge to explain the legality of the “INS’s interference.”
He asked a judge to clarify or void the 15 years of probation because he was being deported, saying “subsequent appeals fell on deaf or ignorant ears.”
Monaco denied his motions, pointing out that when he signed his plea form, it clearly said he could be deported. But Arango persisted, filing appeals to the District Court of Appeal. He lost.
Although the INS detained Arango, he was released in March 2004. U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials said Arango was released based on a 2001 Supreme Court ruling known as the Zadvydas decision. That ruling established time limits on how long the government may detain an alien who has a final order of removal when ICE cannot readily remove the alien from the U.S. due to U.S.-Cuban relations. Cubans are not deported.
Arango stayed beneath police radar, although Perez’s 2007 arrest for allegedly dealing drugs while on probation for dealing made it appear Arango had been arrested. Perez used his name twice that year.
Even before he threatened Turcotte on the night Widman came to her aid, Collier County deputies were called to help Angela Quintana, 24, another of Arango’s girlfriends. On March 3, Quintana called 911 to report Arango grabbed her by the throat, tried to strangle her and pushed her down as he shoved away her 5-year-old son while a witness watched in the parking lot of an East Naples apartment complex. Quintana decided not to move in with him and left. Reports show she suffered cuts and bruises.
After the investigation, Quintana went to her mother's home, the report says, noting, "She received a call from the suspect, who told her he now had a gun and he was going to shoot her."
Deputies were alerted to be on the lookout for Arango’s Mercedes, but whether a warrant was issued was not mentioned in the report. The battery charge would have violated his probation.
Two months later, Arango was arrested by Lee County deputies on Fort Myers Beach after deputies said he’d sold them cocaine several times beginning in April. He posted bond the next day, May 17.
Six days later, a probation officer submitted a warrant for his arrest for violating probation, but because Arango’s old case files are on microfilm, the warrant wasn’t signed until May 30. Seventeen days later, however, Arango appeared for his arraignment in Lee County, pleaded no contest and walked out the door. The judge was unaware of the warrant and probation officers didn’t alert him.
Arango would have faced up to 30 years for the probation violation, and up to 30 years if convicted of the cocaine trafficking charge, with a minimum mandatory of three years in state prison.
The next time law enforcement spotted him, he was dead within minutes — just before 2 a.m. July 18.
Comments
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Where's Naples Middle school? He was a dirtbag. Why is the Naples Daily even putting this into print. HE killed a Police Officer in "cold Blood". HE violated the law continuously. Reporting this is disrespectful to the family of and the police officer that was killed. Abel Arrango was not a victim. I declined to bond him out several times based on his history and attitude. The world is a better place without this piece of crap regardless of what his family says.
#1 Posted by slash on July 31, 2008 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#2 Posted by zeus on July 31, 2008 at 9:52 p.m.
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#3 Posted by babbas on July 31, 2008 at 10:34 p.m.
I think the first 5 posts say it all! Abel was the lowest form of scum and enjoyed more than his share of free air. All I can ask the Arango family to do is not pollute U.S. soil any further with Abel's ashes. Please let the sister from Cuba take him back to Castro so they dispose of 2 A-holes together.
#4 Posted by buster1 on July 31, 2008 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The last six paragraphs of this story sent shivers down my spine.
#5 Posted by babbas on July 31, 2008 at 10:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#6 Posted by Aquaholic on July 31, 2008 at 10:45 p.m.
"but his family wouldn’t say what they planned to do with his ashes."
HOW ABOUT PUTTING THEM DOWN THE SEWER?
#7 Posted by sunburnt on July 31, 2008 at 11 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Because of a flawed justice system, three young children will grow up without their father. How many other killers are out of jail on a technicality or "oops, I didn't know he had a warrant" that can and will kill again?
Arango's family must be in fantasy land. A long criminal history by the time he was 16, and they say "He was a good man with a good heart. I’m shocked.” What are you all on drugs?
An eye for an eye was served up in this case, as it should be.
#8 Posted by lite_n_up on July 31, 2008 at 11:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I want answers. How did this garbage slip through the cracks, who dropped that ball that cost this officers life? Acountibility is needed. The police departments need two man cars in high crime areas, or at least on the 4 to 12, and 12 to 8 shifts. I doubt this guy would have acted out if he was looking at 2 LEO's, he just might of thought that evening out. 2 man cars people, SW Florida is catching up with the rest of the crime world. YA HEAR ME POLITICIANS...2 OFFICERS PER CAR ON THE NIGHT SHIFT.
#9 Posted by cit10driver on July 31, 2008 at 11:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"Buried with Arango are answers to what may have caused him to snap"
Answer: He was a low life scum-bag.
"but my brother didn’t deserve what happened to him, either"
He deserved to die slowly and painfully.
"I don’t know what happened,” Arango’s childhood friend Javier Ricardo Perez Tapia, 28 said as he sat in the Collier County jail, awaiting a probation violation hearing next month."
I do! Criminals hang with criminals!
To bad he couldn't have been killed by his associates a few days earlier.
#10 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 1:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Attorneys who use their skill to wrangle the legal system for the benefit of these criminals should be held accountable for all following crimes.
Don't lawyers have to take and pass a class on ethics and morals to pass the bar? If so it seems they don't use what they learned.
I wouldn't have represented this scum!
#11 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 1:54 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Arango didn't deserve what he got? Why should he have the right to his life when he had taken the life of another. If you ask me the police officer is the one that didn't deserve it. Why was Arango carrying a gun in the first place?
#12 Posted by maddog59 on August 1, 2008 at 4:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
i agree sister. he didnt deserve what happened to him. it was far too nice of a way for him to die. he wanted a violent ending, not something as quick as a well placed bullet. too bad he didnt get his last wish.
#13 Posted by islandman4now on August 1, 2008 at 5:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#14 Posted by babsmn on August 1, 2008 at 6:08 a.m.
I hope diez-Balart and all the other elected officials that have done nothing to protect americans from this third world garbage they keep letting in.
enough is enough! start protecting our borders and do away with dry/wet foot
#15 Posted by grouper25 on August 1, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Gutta1....That is a comment I would expect from you. It won't take others long to figure out what that means!
#16 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 6:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It wasn't too long ago that CCSO Cpl. Bill Pschigoda was mowed down by a Mexican immigrant Jesus Moreno, deemed an habitual felony offender, therefore illegal and should have been deported. He finally will be after 22 years in prision. But this, and the death of officer Widman would never have happened if our government and legal system were doing their jobs.
Our front line peace officers are taking the brunt of our government's negligence and incompetence in dealing with illegal immigration.
#17 Posted by Bramble on August 1, 2008 at 6:56 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank God the scum bag is gone. AMEN
#18 Posted by JERBEAR on August 1, 2008 at 7:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Flush the ashes, then start deporting all of the other convicted felons that are Illegal Aliens.
Gutta 1, I hope that LEO pays you a visit,dont think for a minute that they cant figure out who you are...
#19 Posted by streetrodder on August 1, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#20 Posted by TSOL on August 1, 2008 at 7:34 a.m.
TSOL...I guess it is called fair reporting. Unfortunately, that is the way it has to be.
#21 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 7:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
It doesn't surprise me that the sister makes an attempt to defend such a senseless act by her brother. She always made excuses for him as a teenager when he was committing violent felonies. His mother was the same way. And they still say, "Thats just not him." This is the result of parents defending their child even when they break the law. No accountability by parents =prison, death, and financial burden on society.
#22 Posted by Flacrkr on August 1, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Once again Gutta shows his stellar upbringing, Scholarly insight and leaves us with a meaningful post and thoughts to consider as we make our way to work all in an effort to make the world a better place.
Please crawl back under whatever roach infested rock you crawled out from. You have nothing intelligent to add to this topic and your posts are just your juvenile way to try and goad someone into a debate with you. Not to mention highly insensitive given the facts of this entire event.
You say you haven't been employed since '06 how do you support yourself? I suspect that you are either committing some type illegal activity to support yourself (could this be why you have such a strong hatred of law enforcement) or you are living off someone else namely the tax payers. I can tell you your wonderful attitude and people skills will surely help to ensure that you remain unemployed in the foreseeable future.
#23 Posted by TSOL on August 1, 2008 at 8:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Gutta1" receives all the attention that he/she craves when all of you people respond to the unintelligent comments that he/she makes. Everyday I observe this and wonder when or if everyone will just stop responding to him/her. Really, as a third-party observer, anyone who responds to this person looks like a fish being reeled in by a happy angler.
#24 Posted by babbas on August 1, 2008 at 8:16 a.m. (Suggest removal)
For 11 years Arango was a cancer in the community before the LEO's saved the taxpayers some money with a trial and execution. The sad part is it came too late for Officer Widman - RIP.
Let's learn from this experience before we let Tapia Perez pick up where Arango left off.
#25 Posted by teachurkids on August 1, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Just another Mika Brzezinski story!
#26 Posted by Trexler on August 1, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Time to re evaluate our Cuba policy.
If Cuba won't take back deportees or refugees, maybe we should make the refugees earn their status. Have them do community service like road work, exotic vegetation removal or litter clean up for a certain time period. There is a lot of work that needs to be done. Our country should get something back for what we give them. Part of the community service time means they have to take classes on American values.
If they want freedom, they should know that it isn't free. Giving benefits to Cuban refugees doesn't teach them the cost of our freedom. Our military has died to keep our country free for people like Arango who have not only abused their freedom but denied others theirs and taken a life.
There are many patriotic Cubans but since the Mariel boat lift there is a whole different class of refugees that don't respect our country either by whining that they don't have enough benefits or committing crimes. Frankly, I wish a Cuban refugee group would get together to take on Castro so the Cuban vote quits controlling Congress on our Cuba policy.
The Congressmen brothers Diaz Balart need to go. Elect the new guys, one of them is Joe Garcia running in Collier Congressional District 25.
RIP Officer Widman. Your life was worthy and we miss men like you. I hope that some good will come of this tragedy.
#27 Posted by MarthaSimons on August 1, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
When Cubans make it to this country they're legal and they can stay regardless of what they do. For all of you who are outraged by what happened, I would suggest you vote for candidates that will overhaul this U.S. immigration policy. Unfortunately, politics gets in the way and BOTH presidential candidates are courting the Cuban vote so nothing is going to change anytime soon.
#28 Posted by reasonableguy on August 1, 2008 at 8:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Who cares?
#29 Posted by techie on August 1, 2008 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The police probably should have been standing at the door of this funeral - there were probably enough dealers and wanted criminals there to call it a small gang meeting.
#30 Posted by nickismom on August 1, 2008 at 8:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is this a local issue? No. Our country is liberaly garnished with many just like Abel Arango. Curiously they receive break after break after break. They commit mayhem and yet they're free to go right out and commit more of it.
Yet we law abiding citizens find it increasingly easy to get arrested and incarcerated. Sometimes the cause of this cancer of injustice is lying criminals with law degrees. Other times it's officers who in good faith follow orders to 'arrest everyone, let the courts sort 'em out'.
Haven't we seen thousands of murderous felons freed from prisons around the country, ostendibly due to 'overcrowding'? Yet when we examine more closely, don't we see that freshly vacated cells are incresingly filled with otherwise harmless citizens arrested for minor offenses if not imaginary crimes?
Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
01 August, 2008
#31 Posted by paul_vincent_zecchino on August 1, 2008 at 9:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
PS -
Meanwhile, Border Patrol Agents Compean and Ramos suffer the injustice of federal imprisonment for the supposed offense of trying to apprehend a fleeing foreign drug-dealer.
What sort of message does that send? Doesn't that encourage yet more mayhem?
Paul Vincent Zecchino
Manasota Key, Florida
01 August, 2008
#32 Posted by paul_vincent_zecchino on August 1, 2008 at 9:39 a.m. (Suggest removal)
nickismom
Funny you mention that. Thats exactly what they did...although they didnt get anybody off the streets when they did it either. The stopped a stockbroker friend of mine and asked him why he had two cell phones. CCSO didnt get anything but a few traffic violations. See? Profiling doesnt work!
Going to a funeral doesnt always have to be about paying respect to the person that died. Regardless of all the racist comments here, I am sure that even though Abel was a bad seed, there were other family members who werent and they do deserve love and support.
It gets really hard to have respect for LEOs that do nothing but harass you for walking down the streets in the neighborhood you live. You should be suprised how many kids get criminal records for doing the same things kids in other places get a ride home to mommy and daddy. Its true. You know its true. But rather then learn about it and try to make it right youd rather not get off your high horse and let the LEO "heroes" fix it their way. Dont be suprised by the number of "Abel" types our own LEOs make everyday.
Did Cain kill Abel? Yes we did...because after all we are "our brothers keeper."
Open your eyes...
#33 Posted by NaplesNative357 on August 1, 2008 at 9:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
THANK YOU NAPLES DAILY NEWS for running this article. Its sad that people can't understand the loss for this family. Hopefully this article will open the mind of even one more person to realize that a life is a life. I in no way justify Abel's actions but his family is in the grieving process just as the officers. I will say prayers for both familys as I hope you all would.
"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
#34 Posted by peace on August 1, 2008 at 9:59 a.m. (Suggest removal)
To Paul Vincent Zecchino:
First, thank you for having the courage to publish your name.
Second, everything you say is true, but in defense of the average cop on the street who have become no more than Pawns, you have to understand how frustrating it must be to put your life on the line every day to arrest scum bags, and see them released the next day.
Third, arresting harmless citizens allows cops to keep their jobs, and come home to their families every night.
Fourth, our entire legal system is upside down, and its up to "We the People" to cure the problem. All the people within the system have become a part of the problem and NOT a part of the solution. THEY should be the one put in jail for "aiding and abetting".
#35 Posted by 26yearsonmarco on August 1, 2008 at 10:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember, you alls, when a gringo committed a crime, where do you want them to be send?. because the're a lot of thash in the EEUU, too. Stop the racist, All the Cuban are not the sames.OK
#36 Posted by CUBANASOY on August 1, 2008 at 10:26 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Check him out Collier County.
Joe Garcia for US Congress
http://joegarcia08.com
"With over 8,000 miles of coastline, Florida is far too vulnerable to drug smugglers. We are all too familiar with the consequences of narco-trafficing: violence on our streets; the intoxication of our children and the tarnishing of our community's image around the world. "
-from Joe Garcia for Congress campaign website
PS I am not with his campaign though I am interested in candidates who will actually do something. Congressman Mario Diaz Balart needs to go
#37 Posted by MarthaSimons on August 1, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
What scum- "Arango left behind two babies, possibly three" for the citizens of this country to support!!! Lucky us. Why don't they all pack up and go back to Cuba?
This guy had an open casket- Officer Widman didn't since this scum SHOT HIM IN THE FACE!
#38 Posted by BenG on August 1, 2008 at 10:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Tell Raquel her brother did get what he deserved & that was too good for him. Hope he burns in hades forever
#39 Posted by FECOYLE on August 1, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
End wet foot dry foot. Deport convicted felons back to where ever they came from. Or the people in these posts will have enough one day, and do it for you.
#40 Posted by yes on August 1, 2008 at 12:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Why in the world are we even giving this attention. He killed an officer, planned it, and should never have been out on the streets
#41 Posted by smile4bmj on August 1, 2008 at 1 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Do you poeple not have a heart? Have you never had you family, or your children do something that you were not proud of? Regardless of the huge mistake that he made, and paid for, his sister still loves him, as do his friends, and they are the ones who are suffering now. I am not asking you to have sympathy for Abel, just the people who care about him, because they are the ones who are left to wonder what went wrong, and the ones who are left hurting right now.
#42 Posted by creedfan4lyflds on August 1, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
No one got to hear his side of the story.
Not like any of you close minded, racist fools care to hear it.
#43 Posted by NaplesLocale on August 1, 2008 at 1:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I like how immature and rude people can be when they don't agree with their opinions
(see my last post, close minded racist FOOLS)
#44 Posted by NaplesLocale on August 1, 2008 at 1:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
"He lay in a casket wearing pants and a dress shirt. He was cremated, but his family wouldn’t say what they planned to do with his ashes."
Hmm.
Pretty hard to dress a pile of ashes in pants and a dress shirt.
"Arango’s mother, Justa Garcia, died of cancer in 1998, when he was 16. By then, he’d already wracked up a few arrests, beginning with marijuana possession and assault and battery when he was 15."
"By age 16, as his mother was dying of cancer, Arango had a long criminal history..."
So which was it, a "few arrests," or a "long criminal history"?
Not the best writing in this story....
#45 Posted by sally1860 on August 1, 2008 at 1:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Napleslocale...There is no need for "his" side of the story when they killed another human being, one that did not have his gun drawn. It was not in self-defense in anyway, shape, or form. He chose to go out "Miami style" and took an innocent life with him. He has had a life of crime since the age of 15. How can you say we are racist fools, because there is not any sympathy for him? That was a cold-blooded killing. Where was his sympathy when he pulled the gun, aimed, and fired?
#46 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 2:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
One thing more, napleslocale. We have a lot of sympathy. We have sympathy for the officer's family or anyone else that was unjustly murdered. Sorry, but the race card just isn't gonna work. He got his equal NDN story, more than enough.
#47 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 2:20 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If he was white no one would be saying, "Send him back to England!"
#48 Posted by NaplesLocale on August 1, 2008 at 2:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#54 Posted by NaplesLocale
**QUOTE**
No one got to hear his side of the story.
**END**
You're wrong!
Actions speak louder than words, his whole criminal life is his story.
It reads "I am better than anyone else and should do whatever I want"!
#49 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 2:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#65 Posted by NaplesLocale
**QUOTE**
"Send him back to England!"
**END**
Racist!
How dare you assume all white people are from England!
#50 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 2:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
napleslocale....I should just bypass that comment but..There are people of all races and colors that have murdered and been murdered. In this case, Arango was a thug, a cold-blooded murderer. Just like Caylee Anthony and her mother Casey (who is white). If the mother killed that child, she deserves the death penalty. Get my point? Since the funeral wasn't mentioned in the Obits, I assume the family called NDN. Like a good neighbor, they reported the story. He got his 5 minutes of fame, which is more than he should have gotten.
#51 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 2:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Regardless, this has turned into one huge racial situation. This county needs to be diversified, that's all I'm saying. Thug or not, no one truly knows what happens besides the officer and Arrango. Not saying what he did was right but seriously.
#52 Posted by NaplesLocale on August 1, 2008 at 2:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Where was race mentioned? Did I miss that?
#53 Posted by marcoislandgal on August 1, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Napleslocale....You read it how YOU want to read it, see it how YOU see it. We know what happened. Thug pulls gun, shoots officer in the face. Witnesses = 1 (girlfriend). Officer did not pull his gun. Never mind...you will never see the truth. Bye
#54 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 2:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come on. If he was an Englishman who had done little more than commit crime since he entered our country, I for one /would/ be saying "Send him back to England."
I don't care where people are from or what they look like. If they make it their life's work to systematically and continually dismantle society, they are going to reap what they sow. And anybody who even points a gun, let alone fires one, at a police officer knows full well what is going to happen next.
#55 Posted by Pontiaction on August 1, 2008 at 3:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think Naples Daily News needs to think before they publish their stories.This was a very tacky article that shouldn't have made the front page of the newspaper. Who cares what his family has to say. There brother,son or whoever was a murderer. He was not a good person with a good heart and his sister is right..he didn't desereve what happened to him..he deserved to be shot point blank in the face just like he did to that poor officer. I don't know why everyone is making this story about race..That is way off topic.The fact is that he shot an officer and killed that officer. This man should have been jail and not walking the streets. Naples Daily News should spend their time focusing on the true victims and not the people who commit these crimes
#56 Posted by brisbeachmom on August 1, 2008 at 3:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This POS should of never been out among the public he should of been deported and or locked up.
I am sad to see but understand why the NDN had to cover this story. What happend is done and over so instead feeding fuel to the fire we should all stop posting comments under this story. No one should forget who was the real victim was that day and for the little ones who will never know there father thanks to that POS.
#57 Posted by FDNYEngine298 on August 1, 2008 at 3:44 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This article is utterly sickening. I don't know who at NaplesNews thought it was a good idea to attempt to "humanize" this monster, but it is appalling. The fact that you would print that ANYONE remembered this guy as "polite and respectful" is horriffic. He wasn't polite, respectful, a good guy and he sure as heck had NO heart.
Simple facts - He was a REPEAT violent offender, he was attacking a WOMAN, and he shot an innocent man in the face just because he wore the uniform.
As a community there are only three things that anyone REALLY wants to know about Arango.
1) Why wasn't he in jail?
2) Why was he in the country?
3) Why hadn't someone taken care of him before that night???
He shot at four other cops as well. Thank God he was a lousy aim and Thank God Officer Gagnon was a good one.
Shame on you, Aisling Swift. You should take a lesson or two from Sam Cook.
#58 Posted by SlimSmitty on August 1, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. (Suggest removal)
FDNYEngine. I agree but I think it was necessary to print. It was interesting to read that he has been in trouble with the law since the age of 15 and the father of 2, possibly 3 children. I also find it hard to believe the family said "this was not him". Your are right, it should never have happened in the first place. This is not by any means a sympathy blog for Arango.
#59 Posted by ladybug on August 1, 2008 at 4:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If the officer killed by Arango was mexican, black or of any hispanic origin other that white, this blog would be exactly the same in content against Arango except that the racists who claim racism would have no fodder to blog with.
#60 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 5:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Congrats NDN. Dead horse beaten, name dragged thru the mud, the pot stirred. Mission accomplished.
#61 Posted by Trojanz33 on August 1, 2008 at 5:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#76 Posted by Trojanz33
**QUOTE**
name dragged thru the mud
**END**
Deserved to be.
#62 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Indeed anyone who does what he did deserves it. I just can't understand the point of this story. Why not just let them be dead?
#63 Posted by Trojanz33 on August 1, 2008 at 6:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm not touching this one...
#64 Posted by Opinionated on August 1, 2008 at 7:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Arango was released based on a 2001 Supreme Court ruling known as the Zadvydas decision.
www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2001/November/01_ins_595.htm
Print it out, wipe butt, send it to all public officials, gov, judges, ICE, etc.....
It's toliet tissue
#65 Posted by camelopardalis on August 1, 2008 at 7:47 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I hope Arango burns in hell. God Bless Officer Widman. God speed to his wife and children! Please remember them in your prayers.
#66 Posted by diamondsareagirlsbestfriend on August 1, 2008 at 8:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
God Bless Officer Widman and his family. Rest in Heaven Brother.
To the Animal that killed Officer Widman in cold blood may you rest in Hell.
To the Reporter of this story...No one cares how, or why this Animal did what he did, or how he lived...He received what he truly deserved.
#67 Posted by taz120 on August 1, 2008 at 8:53 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#78 Posted by Trojanz33
**QUOTE**
I just can't understand the point of this story.
**END**
Probably because some family members or friends thought the world should know what a wonderful person they thought this thug was.
Instead they should be condemning him as a life example to their children and peers.
No! They want them to think he was a wonderful guy and it is ok to idolize and be like him.
#68 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 9:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#82 Posted by TiredoftheBS
Added thought...
It takes CHARACTER to say...
"I loved him because he's family but he was wrong in every way he conducted his life from 15 years old on. He got what he deserved and it would have been better if he died at that age."
That is the message that should be sent!
#69 Posted by TiredoftheBS on August 1, 2008 at 9:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
#83 Posted by TiredoftheBS
I can see that, but I was friends with him(haven't talked to him in a few years tho) and I just think this story is stupid. Going from the whole thing about the funeral to his criminal record is a mixed message at best. I'll echo what people from the funeral said about him being "respectful and polite", but trying to glorify the murderer of a police officer in the same story that you paint him as career felon with a troubled past is just dumb.
#70 Posted by Trojanz33 on August 1, 2008 at 11:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
#71 Posted by VivaLaBeachStore on August 2, 2008 at 11:05 a.m.
It's a shame that this was printed. It really showes where the world is headed and that the news truly doesn't care. I will never purchase this news paper and will always try to pursuade others to do the same. You should be ashamed.
#72 Posted by Detective08 on August 4, 2008 at 9:34 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Detective08,
New's reports on things that are going on in this town most people want to know. So my question to you is if you WILL never purchase the News Paper and Pursuade others to do the same how come you are reading this article and commenting on something you dont incourage others to read? Seems a little contradicting doesnt it?
Just some food for thought
Smile and Enjoy your day :)
#73 Posted by OneandOnly on August 5, 2008 at 9:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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