Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

Acting on an anonymous tip, Centralia police yesterday arrested a 22-year-old man wanted on a first-degree murder warrant related to the death of an 18-year-old in Tacoma earlier this month.

Several officers at about 1:30 p.m. conducted a building search at a business on the 500 block of North Tower Avenue and found Alberto Cole Sarmiento hiding under some stairs, according to the Centralia Police Department.

He was taken into custody at gunpoint, but without incident, Officer Angie Humphrey said.

The suspect, identified as Alberto “Taxer” Colt-Sarmiento by Tacoma police, is believed to have set up an ambush the night of Nov. 2, near 44th Street and East R Street in the Salishan neighborhood of east Tacoma.

According to Tacoma-Pierce County Crime Stoppers, as the victim and his two friends exited their vehicle, an unidentified shooter jumped out of the bushes and fired multiple shots toward them. Victim Elijah Crawford was struck once and died from his wounds; the second victim was struck in the shoulder and face and survived; the third friend ran away without being hit.

Crime Stoppers reported one of the surviving victims had an ongoing dispute with Colt-Sarmiento, and that detectives believe Colt-Sarmiento set up the ambush but was not the shooter.

Centralia police yesterday further assisted the Tacoma Police Department yesterday by recovering evidence related to the homicide.

Humphrey said she didn’t know what that evidence was but did say no gun was found on the suspect yesterday.

She said she understood Colt-Sarmiento has a relative at the bakery where he was hiding.

Colt-Sarmiento was turned over to Tacoma police after his arrest.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 17th, 2015 at 9:03 am and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.