Suspect arrested in 19-year-old Anaheim cold case homicide, police say

Anaheim police have arrested a suspect in connection with a 19-year-old homicide case, officials announced this week.

Leopoldo Vargas Serrano, 47, was arrested at his Houston residence Sept. 11, Anaheim police said in a statement.

Serrano is a suspect in the fatal shooting of Luis Garcia Bucio, 21, a co-worker, after an argument Oct. 16, 2000, police said. The shooting occurred in front of a business in the 1600 block of North Miller Street in Anaheim.

An arrest warrant was issued a few days later for Serrano, charging him with one count of murder, officials said. But attempts to apprehend him were unsuccessful.

In early 2019, detectives working in collaboration with the Orange County district attorney’s office’s special TracKRS unit developed information that Serrano was living under an assumed name in Houston, police said.

Anaheim detectives, with the assistance of Houston police, served a search warrant at the residence last month and arrested Serrano. Serrano was also arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents that day for unlawful entry into the U.S., officials said.

On Wednesday, Anaheim police took custody of Serrano from the U.S. Marshals Service in Houston and transported him back to Orange County, where is being held in lieu of $1-million bail, authorities said.