A man linked to a bank robbery who was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire with a Tucson police officer has been identified.
Jesus Isaac Rael, 31, was mortally wounded after firing at a police officer then trying to steal a second police squad car in a series of crimes that started Thursday afternoon and stretched across the city.
Jesus Isaac Rael
Rael previously served several years in an Arizona state prison, for felony charges stemming out of Maricopa County that included robbery, unlawful use of means of transportation and misconduct involving weapons, according to records from the Arizona Department of Corrections.
After his release in 2008, he was arrested in Yuma, and convicted of felony aggravated assault, where he served a three-year sentence, prison records show.
In May 2013, he was arrested in Pima County on a warrant, for leaving the jurisdiction of his parole without permission, records show.
He was returned to prison and released in March 2014.
About 1:45 p.m., Marana police called TPD asking for help capturing a man who they tried to stop in connection with a bank robbery.
After an exchange of gunfire the gunman escaped in a stolen police car. There were at least seven Marana police officers on the scene at the time of the shootout, said department spokesman Sgt. Chris Warren.
The same man was then linked to a carjacking on West Valencia Road in which the carβs owner suffered serious injuries when the gunman ran him over in the Chevrolet Malibu he was stealing, police said.
The chase resumed when the stolen Malibu was spotted by police in midtown. The driver crashed trying to turn onto East 8th Street from North Campbell Avenue.
He fired on an officer with a shotgun, was shot and wounded by that officer, then tried to escape by stealing the officerβs squad car, police say.
Two other officers used their squad cars to prevent an escape.
Tucson police started cardio pulmonary resuscitation at the scene of the shooting, but Rael died later at the hospital.
Marana police said Friday that surveillance photos taken during the Wednesday bank robbery helped detectives identify Rael as the robber. Also, a citizen gave police a license plate number of the car used in the robbery. The department said it obtained a felony arrest warrant for Rael and notified surrounding agencies that he was wanted in connection with the robbery.
Rael was driving that car, a 2010 Chevrolet Cobalt, when confronted by Marana police officers trying to arrest him on Thursday. He crashed the car during his attempt to escape, Marana police said.
Marana police identified the two officers who exchanged gunfire with Rael as Officer Abel Samano, a 10-year veteran, and Officer Gabriel Tapia, a five-year member of the force. Neither officer was injured and both have been placed on paid administrative leave during the investigation, which is standard procedure, Marana police said.
