Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth at Tuesday’s press conference.
Note: Now with extensive additions from the press conference and video. Moved to top. — DH
Andrew Obregon is now a suspect in the death investigation of a Kenosha man found dead in a Paris farm field Sept. 26, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon.
Until today, Beth had been describing Obregon, 32, of Brighton, as a person of interest in the death of Tywon Anderson, 37, of Kenosha.
Beth said he is now confident that Obregon knows enough about the case to be called a suspect.
“At this point, with all the investigation we’ve done, I feel very confident in calling Andrew Obregon a suspect in the homicide of Tywon Anderson,” Beth said. “He’s passed the person of interest. He knows more. I think he was involved in it.”
Andrew Obregon /Photo supplied by Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department
Beth also said he is confident a drug deal or trade was to take place between the two men.
The Sheriff’s Department has been searching intensely for Obregon since Friday, when he led deputies on a 100-mph plus chase through Paris and across the Racine County Line.
Saturday night, Beth said, Obregon is believed to have broken into a Bristol convenience store and robbed another convenience store near I-94 and Highway 50. Deputies pursued him, but Obregon crashed and abandoned a vehicle he was driving and stole another vehicle about a mile away and eluded efforts to catch him again.
Vehicles Obregon may still have access to include a 2015 white Ford Transit van and a pickup truck that may have been hand painted black.
Obregon may have shaved his beard or taken other steps to change his appearance, Beth said.
Beth acknowledged increasing anxiety in the area about Obregon still being at large. Deputies are being posted at PAris, Brighton and Bristol schools, which also are observing soft lockdowns for recess periods.
“Everything seems to be occurring in the Brighton, Paris, Paddock Lake, Kansasville, Dover, Union Grove area,” Beth said. “It’s a small area. The community is very nervous about the situation.”
As he has in earlier statements, Beth said he did not believe Obregon posed a threat to the general public, but he conceded that the danger may be increasing as the situation continues unresolved.
“I don’t believe Andrew Obregon would hurt anyone at the schools, would hurt the kids or families in their neighborhoods,”Beth said. “The only person he has hurt in recent history was someone he was connected to and that was the person he was going to buy or trade drugs (with) in Kenosha County. And that was Tywon Anderson … Andrew Obregon has no regard for anything anymore. It seems like he has very little to lose. That’s what I think makes him a little more dangerous. With his sources for drugs drying up, his sources for finances drying up, I think he’s going to become more and more … of a threat to the community the further this goes along.”
Beth advised Brighton-Paris-Bristol-Paddock Lake area residents to not keep keys in their vehicles, to lock them and not leave money in them.
So far, Obregon has been using cornfields as a way to elude law enforcement. Corn is still high and mostly unharvested here at this point, Beth said.
“That’s how he seems to escape,” Beth said.
Beth also asked local farmers to check their properties for anything suspicious and to report any findings to the KCSD.
In answer to a question from a Milwaukee TV station reporter, Beth addressed why the case has received so much attention, as opposed to the weekly homicides in Milwaukee where suspects also sometimes elude capture.
“Kenosha County doesn’t have a lot of homicides, and I’m thankful for that,” Beth said. “We don’t have two, three, four homicides a week like Milwaukee does. We’re not accustomed to that. I think with the homicides in Milwaukee, the people who are involved, most people don’t know who they are. In the Paris, Brighton, Paddock Lake area, most of us know who the Obregons are and I think that makes it more personal for us … Everyone is worried he’s going to end up in their backyard.”
Beth also related an early encounter with the Obregon family, back when he was the KCSD D.A.R.E. officer in the 1990s, teaching the drug resistance program at Brighton School. He said an Obregon family member he remembers to be Andrew was having trouble getting to school on time.
“He was not a stellar student. I ended up for one week picking him up at his home and taking him to school so he would get there on time,” Beth said.
Assisting the KCSD with manpower and other resources have been the Kenosha Police Department, the Racine County Sheriff’s Department and the U.S. Marshals service, Beth said.
Anyone with information about Obregon’s current whereabouts is urged to call the Kenosha Sheriff’s Department at 262-605-5100. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call the Kenosha Area Crime Stoppers at 262-656-7333 or toll free at 800-807-8477. Information leading to arrest and conviction may result in a reward up to $1,000.
Here is video of most of the press conference:
If you are a farmer in the area it would be helpful if you harvested corn if you could
I have yet to see Oregon’s height weight listed. Would be helpful especially if he has altered his appearence.
Obregon is described as 5 feet 8 inches tall, 185 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair.
If the suspect is traveling farm fields by a SUV and there was a clear trail should one pursue in a vehicle or on foot?
The person that drove through my corn field could easily hide in the wooded area he drove by in the field. No one would know he was there. He could drive a vehicle into the woods and a helicopter would not see him from the air.
The only reason I knew someone drove by was because I heard him I did not see him. I was two to three minutes behind this individual and he crossed the police perimeter through the farm fields. I then notified the police as they drove by my driveway and they pursued him. I think they missed him because he traveled faster than the police who were pursuing him.
This guy was in my backyard. He left the front air dam and a side view mirror of the SUV in the field. He left tire tracks in my yard.
About the deputies posted at schools, does that mean if we want school shootings to stop deputies or someone armed should be posted at all the gun safe zones?
I did not hear that the canines were called out last night. This has gotten to the point of ridiculous.
Mike.
Please don’t turn this story into one about guns, schools, or gun free zones. It’s not about that.
The police are merely being prudent to protect our most precious citizens at this time when we have a armed suspect roaming the countryside. Those kind of comments can be written and heard when and if Darren decides to report a story on that kind of subject.
Let’s just pray that no one else has to die in apprehending this man. He has made threats that we hope don’t come to pass.
Dear ‘Please Don’t’, You will notice I asked a question. Maybe this locale knows how to protect children that could be shared with the nation. Please notice the Maybe.
Dear Jeanette, if Andrew got away again last night I would say it was time to change tactics. He broke thru the perimeter around my area and he outran the police to steal a car and get away. I don’t think he wants to die in a hail of bullets. I think he wants to show he is a clever individual.
Putting a police officer in any location whether it be a school or event, as there is always a police presence at local basketball games, football games, county fairs and other places where large numbers of people gather (contentious village meetings) is merly being ‘at the ready’ in case any possible threat were to develop at that particular location.
You can debate until the cows come home how to protect schools from random acts of violence or for that matter planned acts of violence but this here again is not the time or place to do it.
Dear Schools, Maybe it is time to talk about random acts of school violence. Some comments on other articles are suggesting a sharp eyed farmer take out this bandit. Everyone I talk to are loading up their guns and putting them in easy reach because the police cannot catch this guy, yet we have the liberal elite talking about gun control. This is the exact reason people arm themselves because you can’t rely on someone else for your security. Convince these people to give up their guns after something like this.