Ulysses "Slime" Rodriguez, 20, whose last known address was in Allentown, is sought on a charge of homicide, authorities announced.
View full sizeScoobies Gentlemans Club is in Allentown, though authorities say Tyree Wimberly was shot just past the border with Bethlehem. Ulysses "Slime" Rodriguez, 20, whose last known address was in the 900 block of Walnut Street, faces a homicide charge in the death of Tyree Wimberly, 21, of the 2300 block of South Alice Street in Allentown.
Rodriguez is believed to be on the East Coast and is known to travel between this area and New York City. Authorities say he should be considered armed and dangerous.
View full sizeUlysses "Slime" Rodriguez is sought on a homicide charge in Tyree Wimberly's fatal shooting Jan. 26 outside Scoobies Gentlemans Club. He should be considered armed and dangerous, authorities say. A witness told investigators Rodriguez pulled a handgun from his waistband before putting it back and walking toward Scoobies when he suddenly pulled it back out, county District Attorney Jim Martin said this morning. The witness then heard several shots.
Wimberly was shot multiple times in the chest on the Bethlehem side of Club Avenue but staggered to the club in Allentown, authorities said. He was taken to St. Luke's University Hospital in Fountain Hill after the 1:36 a.m. shooting, according to Lehigh County Coroner Scott Grim, and he was pronounced dead at 3:40 a.m.
Video surveillance and phone records put Rodriguez at the scene and led investigators to his home, authorities said. It was the perfect example, Lehigh County authorities say, of how the county's Regional Intelligence and Investigation Center, or RIIC, can help solve crimes.
Investigators obtained a phone number and street name for one of the men inside the bar shown on surveillance video, then whittled down a list of numbers to run through RIIC, authorities report.
One of the phone numbers in the database led police to an person in Emmaus who owned a Honda CR-V involved in a February wreck in the borough. Another witness, who had phone contact with Rodriguez after the shooting, told investigators he, Rodriguez and a woman had driven to Scoobies in the CR-V, authorities said.
That person said Rodriguez fled the shooting in the Honda, authorities said.
"The crime-fighting tools available to investigators through RIIC are paramount to solving crimes in which investigators follow one lead after another and steadily build a case," Richard Heffelfinger, with the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force, and Bethlehem police Detective Jason Fulmer said in a statement.
District Judge Wayne Maura issued the warrant for Rodriguez's arrest.
POLICE SEEK HELP
Police ask anyone with information about the whereabouts of Ulysses "Slime" Rodriguez to call Detective Jason Fulmer at 610-997-7682, the Bethlehem Police Communications Center at 610-865-7187 or the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office at 610-820-3100.
Basilio Bonilla, a Bethlehem Area School Board member who lives near Scoobies Gentlemans Club, held an evening news conference to remind the community of his intent to have Scoobie's shuttered as a nuisance bar.
He has circulated a petition and gathered hundreds of signatures in support of closing the club.
Scoobies allows patrons to bring alcohol. But because Scoobie's does not have a liquor license, authorities say they have a difficult time handling complaints at the establishment.
Melissa Smith, the manager of the club, previously said the killing has nothing to do with the establishment.
"The boy ... wasn't even a patron at our establishment and (the shooting) didn't even happen outside of our establishment," she said the week of the shooting. "I just feel like everyone is trying to gang up on our establishment."
Bonilla said in an emailed statement that he vows to continue his fight.
"I personally will not stop until justice is served and the members of the community no longer have to deal with this type of issue," Bonilla said.