The small-town Iowa police officer who shot and killed a Cuban immigrant while trying to evict him from a park last month was legally justified in shooting him, the state Attorney General’s Office determined after an investigation.
Feglys Antonio Campos Arriba, 36, was killed on August 15 by a police officer in Denison, a city of just over 8,000 people in central Iowa.
Cuban resists arrest
According to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office report delivered Tuesday, the Denison Police Department received a report of a person sleeping in Washington Park after hours.
Sergeant Alan Romero went to the area and found Campos Arriba sitting under a blanket.
The two had a quiet conversation in Spanish.
Campos Arriba had to choose between leaving or being arrested for trespassing, according to the investigation.
The Cuban opted to be arrested and stood up, with his hands behind his back. But when Romero tried to handcuff him, the immigrant tried to attack him.
Violent attack ends with gunshots fired
The sergeant initially fired his taser, but the discharge did not stop the Cuban, who attacked him and bit his left ear, tearing off a chunk of flesh, the report details.
Romero managed to free himself and ran.
Campos Arriba chased him and knocked him down, causing the policeman to shoot him at least four times.
The investigation revealed that Denison Police had warned the immigrant the day before that he could not camp in the park.
Cuban was unemployed
Campos Arriba had entered the United States in 2023 and had a work permit that expired last July, when President Donald Trump’s administration did not renew the protection.
The immigrant had lost his job at a food processing plant about a month before his deadly encounter with Denison police, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) told The Des Moines Register.
Campos Arriba was homeless and dealing with mental health issues when he confronted police, EFE reported.
For more information, visit QuéOnnda.com.
