Edgar Torres-Rangel, an alleged illegal immigrant on the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Top 10 Most Wanted list and charged with killing a Bedford County woman, has had at least one other documented run-in with the law.
That arrest happened five years ago in Barren County, KY, according to online records from that county’s detention center.
Officers with the Glasgow Police Department arrested Torres-Rangel in August 2013 and charged him with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs – first offense. They also charged him with not having a moped operator’s license.
According to drive.ky.gov, the local circuit court clerk’s office issues moped licenses.
Torres was released from custody later that day.
No other information was available about the arrest or what happened afterward. An unidentified officer with the Barren County Sheriff’s Office told The Tennessee Star Friday that any other officials who could shed light on that arrest, including employees of the county courthouse, were unavailable. This was one day after the Thanksgiving holiday.
TBI officials used Torres-Rangel’s mugshot from this arrest and released it to the media after they put him on their Top 10 Most Wanted list.
According to the TBI’s Facebook page, members of both that agency and the Tennessee Highway Patrol want Torres-Rangel on charges of vehicular homicide.
As reported, both agencies have kicked in reward money, which totals up to $5,000 for information leading to his arrest, according to the TBI’s Facebook page.
TBI spokesman Josh DeVine told The Star that agency officials decided to put Torres-Rangel on their list Tuesday.
“We place people on our top 10 when they are wanted to face serious offenses and when there is some reason to believe that putting a little bit of reward money behind it might help to raise the profile of the case and might lead to tips that might lead to the individual’s capture,” DeVine said.
“We were contacted by the Tennessee Highway Patrol. They indicated they had put up reward money and requested that we do the same, and we agreed that this is an individual that we would like to see in law enforcement custody.”
As reported, officials with the Tennessee Highway Patrol worked the crash scene the night of Oct. 21. Torres-Rangel sustained critical injuries. According to numerous sources, authorities transported Torres-Rangel to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville.
What happened to him afterward is a mystery.
When contacted almost two weeks ago, Bedford County District Attorney Robert Carter said there is an ongoing investigation into the vehicular homicide and there are warrants out on Torres-Rangel.
“Beyond that I don’t think that, ethically, I can talk about what’s going on. I don’t think I can say any more than that,” Carter said.
If you have information about Torres-Rangel then contact the TBI at 1-800-TBI-FIND or [email protected]
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
[…] As reported, officers with the Glasgow Police Department out of Kentucky arrested Torres-Rangel five years ago and charged him with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs — first offense. They also charged him with not having a moped driver’s license. […]