OAKLAND — A father and son have been charged with murder and accessory, respectively, for their alleged roles in a January shooting death that police say appears to be motivated by competition over the illegal fake ID market.
Israel Figueroa, 49, was charged with murder and gun possession in the Jan. 9 shooting death of 37-year-old Jorge Albert Rivas Rodriguez. Jail and court records indicate that Figueroa is out of custody, but Oakland police seem to have a theory where he is; his son, Dillon Figueroa-Cabrera, 21, has been charged with being an accessory and making criminal threats, for allegedly helping his dad flee the country after the homicide.
Figueroa-Cabrera, who was arrested Wednesday, has not yet entered a plea. Prosecutors allege that he arranged for his dad to leave the United States, complaining to a witness that they’d soon have to go to Mexico, and that he threatened a relative believed to have firsthand knowledge of the homicide.
Rivas Rodriguez was shot and killed Jan. 9, during the Coliseum Swap Meet, in the 5400 block of Coliseum Way, court records show. In the shooting’s aftermath, police said it appeared to be motivated by a desire to corner the market for fake identification cards, and that eyewitnesses told police that Figueroa attempted to shoot a second victim, but that his gun jammed.
The shooting occurred in broad daylight in front of numerous people. Afterwards, Figueroa-Cabrera allegedly told one of the eyewitnesses they would kill him “first,” according to court records. Figueroa was identified as a suspect through “surveillance video, electronic evidence, physical evidence, and witness statements,” police said in court filings.