Suspect Held in Attack on Former Wife, LAPD Officer
CORONA — A man wanted for the attempted murder of his ex-wife and the Los Angeles police officer she was dating was caught Saturday in Mexico after a broadcast of “America’s Most Wanted.”
Curtis Allen Hemphill was wanted for the attempted murder of LAPD Officer Vernon Ward and for the kidnapping, assault, torture and shooting of Hemphill’s ex-wife, Keri Hemphill, on Oct. 27, 1996.
Keri Hemphill and Ward survived the attacks.
The Fox TV show “America’s Most Wanted” broadcast Hemphill’s profile five times and showed him on a joint episode of “The Montel Williams Show.”
A San Diego woman watching “The Montel Williams Show” in February said she recognized Hemphill as an exotic dancer she met while in Ensenada, Mexico, at a bachelorette party, said Corona police Det. Ron Anderson.
The woman called police and gave them a photograph of Hemphill, from which Hemphill’s ex-wife confirmed his identity, Anderson said.
Hemphill was arrested by Mexican police at 3 a.m. Saturday outside a bar in Ensenada, a resort town 70 miles south of the border.
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