The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $50,000 reward today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Emigdio Preciado, the primary suspect in the shooting of Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Michael Schaap. The Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau requested an increase to the Board’s original reward of $10,000 to prompt individuals to come forward and provide information as to the whereabouts of the suspect.
On September 5, 2000, Deputy Schaap was shot and injured while on routine patrol in Whittier with his partner, Deputy David Timberlake. While attempting to stop a van for a vehicle code violation, the alleged assailants opened fire with an assault rifle from inside the van. Multiple rounds were fired, one of which struck Schaap in the head. The bullet fragments were removed at St. Francis Medical Center, and Schaap was released and home with his family by Thanksgiving Day. A first suspect has already been apprehended, but the second suspect, Emigdio Preciado, is still at large and wanted for attempted murder. Preciado is an adult male Hispanic presumed to be in Mexico and considered armed and dangerous.
On June 21, 2001, the Board of Supervisors authorized a $10,000 reward that has remained in place since the onset of the investigation. Unfortunately, investigators have currently exhausted all conventional techniques in an attempt to locate and apprehend Preciado, and the case has reached the point where a substantial increase to the reward was deemed necessary to locate and capture the suspect.
By increasing this reward, the Board intends to send a clear message that we support our deputies 100 percent and that this sort of egregious assault will not be tolerated, said Supervisor Knabe. If this reward serves to bring Deputy Schaap’s attacker to justice, I consider it money well spent.
Information on the whereabouts of Preciado or any other information related to this case should be directed to any local law enforcement office or to the Homicide Bureau of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, at (323) 890-5500.