READING – Authorities have caught up to a suspect involved in a drive-by shooting that occurred on August 2, 1998 in Berks County. Members of the U.S. Marshals Office and local law enforcement took 43-year-old Israel Mendoza into custody in Mexico, in connection to the homicide of Michele Lutz, who was shot and killed on Front and Elm Streets in Reading. The investigation at the time of the incident yielded four suspects: Placido Rodriguez, Joshua Ramirez, Israel Mendoza, and Robert Radhames-Herrera. In 1998, Rodriguez and Ramirez were arrested and pleaded guilty to conspiracy of 3rd-degree murder. Both were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in state prison. Mendoza is now in custody, but Radhames-Herrera remains at large. Anyone with information about his whereabouts is asked to contact Reading Police at 610-655-6116 or Crime Alert Berks County at 877-373-9913.
ROBERT RADHAMES-HERRERA
ISRAEL MENDOZA