By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
The tableau set by Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth Tuesday night was colored deeply with relief.
He and his deputies had huddled around their various radios around 4 p.m. Tuesday, waiting for two critical words.
“In custody,” finally came across the radio. And, while Beth waited, a further confirmation was broadcasted.
“’He’s in custody, and it’s Andy Obregon,’” related Beth Tuesday night regarding the radio communication.
Those words touched of cheers, high-fives and handshakes among members of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s department and put an end to weeks of community tension as the fugitive Andrew Obregon eluded police and committed crime after crime.
The manhunt for Obregon, which began shortly after Tywon Anderson went missing Sept. 19 and intensified after Anderson was found murdered Sept. 26, ended shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday afternoon just across the state border in Winthrop Harbor, Ill.
“It’s over,” announced Beth at the start of his news conference Tuesday evening. Obregon was in custody and transported to a Lake County detention facility after receiving treatment for what Beth said a gunshot wound following his capture.
Obregon, 32, was being pursued as a suspect in the murder of Anderson, a known drug dealer according to Beth.
It was a tension-filled period of pursuit, punctuated by high-speed car chases, late-night farm field searches and, finally, Tuesday’s carjacking at a vacant home in western Kenosha County.
In between, Obregon allegedly robbed one business, broke into at least one other business and stole at least four vehicles.
The capture
According to Beth, a 59-year-old woman went to check on a vacant family property near highways JB and EW shortly before 3 p.m. Tuesday. While Beth didn’t know why she had chosen to go to the property now, the woman reportedly found Obregon hiding in the home.
Beth said the woman resisted giving the suspect her keys. According to the information provided by the woman, Obregon then assaulted her and took off in her silver Chevy Spark.
The woman was beaten so severely that she was transported by Flight for Life helicopter to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa following the attack. She will be questioned by police in coming days.
Another high-speed pursuit ensued, and Obregon ended up crossing the state line into Lake County. Obregon was located in Zion, and then went north to Winthrop Harbor. Shots were apparently fired in pursuit of Obregon, but all law enforcement officers were safe.
At that point, Obregon abandoned the stolen vehicle and took off on foot. Beth said that police dogs from both the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and Lake County were used in apprehending Obregon. It was unclear whether Obregon was armed when captured.
According to Beth, Obregon was “coherent enough to say the names of our deputies” with who he had become familiar through years of contact with the Sheriff’s Office. Beth said that it looked like Obregon was trying to get back to his area of comfort – the Brighton/Paris/Kansasville area along the Kenosha and Racine County border – when he was captured.
Obregon was expected to be held in Lake County until an extradition hearing could be held to bring him back to Wisconsin. According to various reports, he was released from a hospital Tuesday night and taken to the Lake County Jail.
The deputies who saw Obregon after his capture told Beth it looked like the man had aged 10 years in the last two weeks.
That drew an emotional reaction from Beth.
“As far as I’m concerned – good, because it’s taken its toll on the community just as much as it’s taken – even more than – it’s taken its toll on Andy.”
Grateful for the help
Beth was the only member of law enforcement who spoke at the press conference, but he was quick to point out that he played just a small part in the capture.
“Truthfully, the part I played in this was very small, compared to everyone else who played major roles,” Beth said.
He extended thanks to every law enforcement agency involved, which included both the Racine County Sheriff’s Department, the City of Kenosha Police and the U.S. Marshall’s Service. He also thanked Illinois law enforcement, which had been alerted before Tuesday and ended up involved in the capture.
Beth also said he’d been in communication with other members of the Obregon family, who had expressed their sadness over what Obregon had done, their gratitude to law enforcement – and their apologies.
“They apologized for what Andy did to the community, and how it affected everyone,” he explained. “They hurt, too.”
Beth took perhaps an unusual route Tuesday afternoon while the chase was ongoing – emailing the vehicle license plate, color and make to area media outlets to get the word out.
That email went out about 3:30 p.m.
“You’ve been so helpful to us,” Beth said. “For helping us to a quick resolve of this entire issue.”
What’s next?
With the capture of Obregon behind him, Beth said Tuesday that his deputies could finally go home for a decent night’s sleep – and then focus on the road ahead.
“This is the first night they can actually go to bed and start working on the homicide portion of this,” Beth said. “That is a huge undertaking all by itself.”
That includes the murder investigation of Anderson, which Beth said had taken a back seat to the Obregon search. At Monday night’s news conference/community meeting at the Kansasville Fire Department, Beth said it is believed that Anderson’s death was a revenge killing by Obregon over a drug deal gone bad.
There are also a number of questions that need to be addressed to Obregon, including where he had been hiding. Beth also planned on questioning the woman who Obregon had attacked in the carjacking.
The relief, however, was palpable – both for Beth and the community, he felt.
“Multiply the relief I feel by tens of thousands of people,” he said. “It’s over. It’s like this huge boulder has been lifted off myself, my department and this entire community.”
Beth stressed that Obregon’s “terrorizing” of the public – which had led to several area schools cancelling field trips and holding recess indoors, as well as the public arming themselves both inside their homes and out – was over.
“It can go back to where the kids can feel safe in their playgrounds and in their school,” Beth said. “Their parents can feel safe in the community, and their homes.
“It’s going to go back now to the way it was a few short weeks ago,” Beth added.
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