“Most wanted” fugitive works as a police officer in Mexico

A fugitive murderer who has been on Ohio's wanted list for nearly two decades was caught working as a police officer in his hometown in Mexico – and is now in custody, officials said.

Antonio Riano, who has been wanted since 2004 for the shooting death of 25-year-old Benjamin Becarra, was arrested on August 1 in Zapotilan Palmas in the Mexican state of Oaxaca, where he worked as a police officer, US Marshals said.

Riano, now 72, was on the Butler County Sheriff's Office's most wanted list and was portrayed in the 2005 television series “America's Most Wanted.”

According to NBC News, Riano shot Becarra after an argument outside the Roundhouse Bar in Hamilton, Ohio, on December 19, 2004, according to police.

Riano stepped in to help a bartender at the bar after the bartender asked Becarra to leave because he had been involved in a fight there weeks earlier, officials said at the time.

While Riano and Becarra were arguing, the bartender told them to take the situation outside. Shots were later fired and Becarra was found lying face down on the sidewalk.

Surveillance footage showed Riano fleeing the scene, but authorities were unable to locate him. At the time, it was believed he had fled the country to avoid prosecution.

Paul Newton, chief investigator for the Butler County District Attorney's Office, said U.S. Marshals tried to arrest Riano on a warrant in 2006, but he eluded them because he was staying at a friend's house down the street, NBC News reported.

He said they finally managed to track down Riano earlier this month through Facebook and other social media.

Riano was flown from Mexico City to Cincinnati and taken to the Butler County Jail, where he will be held pending trial.

He is charged with double murder and grievous bodily harm.

He is due to appear in court again later this month.