Another criminal Mexican illegal opens fire on an American police officer.

As the San Francisco Chronicle reported last week, Napa County sheriff’s deputy Riley Jarecki stopped to examine a red Honda in a parking lot. She was speaking with the driver when the man pulled out a handgun and shot the officer. The cop then pulled her service weapon and fired “at least 15 shots” into the vehicle, all captured on her body camera.

Jarecki was not yet aware that the driver, Javier Hernandez-Morales, 43, also had a loaded rifle in the Honda. The “undocumented immigrant” died at the scene, but there was more to the story.

Hernandez-Morales, a Mexican national, had been deported three times, twice in 2007 and once in 2010. ICE had issued four separate detainers related to arrests on suspicion of driving under the influence, battery on a peace officer, selling liquor to a minor and unknown probation violations. As the Chronicle reported, “none of the detainers was honored by jail staff.” If these and other detainers had not been refused, according to immigration officials, “this incident may have been prevented.”

Jon Rodney of the California Immigrant Policy Center, which fights deportation, did not decry the Mexican criminal’s attack on a female American police officer, any other crimes Hernandez-Morales had committed, or his unlawful presence in the country. As Rodney told the Chronicle, “We have seen how ICE and the president politicize tragedy, and I think that is irresponsible and wrong.”

Napa County Undersheriff Jon Crawford went on record that by pulling a loaded pistol and firing at officer Jarecki, the Mexican intended to kill her. Crawford did not speculate on other goals the violent Mexican criminal might have had in mind. At this writing, pro-sanctuary California governor Gavin Newsom has not weighed in on the case, and Californians might watch how attorney general Xavier Becerra responds.

The pro-sanctuary Becerra is unconcerned about the immigration status of the MS-13 gang members who have murdered 14 during a reign of terror in Mendota, near Fresno. So former congressman Becerra, once on Hillary Clinton’s short list as a running mate, is not likely to side with officer Riley Jarecki.

California’s Democrat attorney general has also been rather quiet about the murder of police officer Ronil Singh, a legal immigrant from Fiji, by Mexican gang member Paulo Virgen Mendoza, also known as Gustavo Perez Arriaga and other names. The Mexican killed Singh in Newman, California, on the day after Christmas, and new developments in the case are proving educational.

Sanctuary advocates proclaim that illegals commit fewer crimes that legitimate citizens. And without sanctuary laws, Californians are endlessly told, the “undocumented” will not call the police. None ever called the police on the murderer of Ronil Singh. In fact, they helped him escape.

As the Modesto Bee notes, last week a federal grand jury returned a nine-count indictment against Erik Razo Quiroz, Adrian Virgen Mendoza, Conrado Virgen Mendoza, Erasmo Villegas Suarez, Ana Leydi Cervantes Sanchez, Bernabe Madrigal Castaneda, Maria Luisa Moreno. Their aid to the fugitive Mendoza, “included transporting and housing him, providing him with clothes, money and a cell phone, and wiring money to smuggle him out of the country.” And the indictment adds “ID fraud to previous charges.”

Mendoza’s brothers, Conrado Virgen Mendoza and Adrian Virgen-Mendoza, are “charged with using a false Social Security number and possessing a false lawful permanent resident card, or green card, to secure employment.” Another relative, Erasmo Villegas-Suarez, is charged with “using a false Social Security number to gain work.”

As this confirms, the Mexican nationals who aided the fugitive cop killer were not “undocumented.” They were false-documented, like virtually all foreign nationals who violate U.S. immigration law and continue to live and work in the United States. Document fraud is a serious crime but when committed by Mexican nationals in the country illegally, California takes no action. That applies whether or not the false-documented illegal is a previously deported criminal.

Repeatedly deported felon Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, or whatever his real name is, was not handed over to federal official and proceeded to gun down Kate Steinle in San Francisco. In similar style, gang member Paulo Virgen Mendoza, or whatever his real name is, had previous encounters with the law but enjoyed protection from federal immigration officials.

That’s why officer Ronil Singh, who came to the United States to become a police officer, is dead. Mendoza returns to court on April 8. Prosecutors have not announced whether they will seek the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Javier Hernandez-Morales, or whatever his real name is, also enjoyed protection from immigration authorities. That’s why he was able to commit crimes and attempt to kill Napa County sheriff’s deputy Riley Jarecki. Had the Mexican been successful, other false-documented illegals would surely have helped him flee.

Fortunately, the quick-acting Jarecki was able to take down the shooter, who had other loaded weapons in the vehicle. Napa County is investigating the incident, and Californians should not be surprised if Jarecki winds up disciplined for deploying excessive or, the current favorite, “disproportionate” force.

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Photo by Tony Webster at Wikipedia Commons