At-Large Sex Offender Arrested Friday In El Monte
EL MONTE (CBS) — A wanted sex offender who eluded his parole officer was arrested Friday at Valley Mall in El Monte.
Thursday, police asked the public to be on the lookout for Manuel Rodriguez. He had been last seen almost a week ago when he reportedly walked away from a parole home on North Bonnie Beach Place in East Los Angeles.
Rodriguez was arrested just before 3 p.m., according to sheriff's officials.
El Monte Police Department Detective Peter Ransic was walking through the shopping center when he saw a man who fit Rodriguez' description.
Officials said Rodriguez was probably in the El Monte area and Ransic admits, "I decided to look for him."
Ransic spotted Rodriguez, sitting on a bench and drinking coffee, when he approached and asked him if he was the suspect. "And the man admitted he was Manuel Rodriguez," says Ransic.
Rodriguez was given a ankle monitor with GPS but he failed to charge it.
Rodriguez' first arrest was for suspicion of indecent exposure in a park. A charge of being a parolee at large will be added to his offenses, according to the sheriff's department.
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