LOS ANGELES, CA – In a case that has gripped the community, three members of a notorious South Los Angeles gang have been handed lengthy prison sentences for the robbery and murder of an off-duty LAPD officer who was out house hunting with his girlfriend two years ago.
On the evening of January 10, 2022, members of the Florencia 13 gang, or F13, were prowling the Florence-Firestone area when they spotted Officer Fernando Arroyos and his girlfriend. The gang members, drawn to the gold chains around Arroyos’ neck, decided to rob him, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Central District of California Office.
The assailants, identified as Luis Alfredo de la Rosa Rios, 30, Ernesto Cisneros, 25, and Jesse Contreras, 36, approached the couple. Rios and Cisneros frisked Arroyos, taking his chains and wallet, which held his LAPD ID. Rios then turned to Arroyos’ girlfriend, relieving her of her possessions as well.
The robbery escalated when Rios and Cisneros opened fire, fatally wounding Arroyos with a single shot. Earlier that same day, Rios and Contreras had carried out armed robberies against two other victims outside a bar within their gang’s territory, authorities revealed.
The trio admitted guilt in July 2023 to one count of conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson sentenced Rios and Cisneros to 50 years each in federal prison, with Rios required to pay over $31,000 in restitution and Cisneros nearly $29,000. Contreras received a 35-year sentence and must pay more than $31,000 in restitution.
“Fernando Arroyos should be with us today, helping to protect a city he was ready and willing to give his life for. Yet he died in a way none of us could have imagined,” said Akil Davis, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Los Angeles Field Office. “With Officer Arroyos’ senseless killing, we lost a protector, and most importantly, his family lost someone who meant the whole world to them.”
Haylee Marie Grisham, 20, an F13 associate and Rios’ girlfriend at the time, also pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of violent crime in aid of racketeering for her involvement in the fatal robbery. She is set to be sentenced on September 9 and could face life imprisonment.
The investigation was a collaborative effort between the FBI and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, with significant support from the LAPD.