Background
Ariel Rios was born in New York, New York to Puerto Rican parents.
Ariel Rios was born in New York, New York to Puerto Rican parents.
Rios graduated from William Howard Taft High School in February 1972, and immediately enrolled in John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan and received his Bachelor of Surgery in Criminal Justice in 1976. He completed his formal training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia in 1979.
Rios started working as a guard with the Washington, District of Columbia and New York City Department of Corrections, he worked his way up to the Internal Affairs Unit. He then joined the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and took the oath of office on December 3, 1978. After training, he was assigned to the New Haven office on June 3, 1979.
The meeting took place at the Hurricane Motel on West Flagler Street, Miami.
The operation was going well until one of the suspects, standing by the window, noticed other agents closing in. When he pulled a gun, Rios moved forward in an attempt to disarm the man and save his fellow agents.
While struggling with the drug dealer, he was shot in the face and died on the scene. His partner was seriously wounded.
He was buried in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, a beautiful mountain village where Rios had once told his father he could rest forever.
Citizens of Miami donated $23,000 to the Ariel Rios Memorial Fund. President Ronald Reagan invited the Rios and Doctorate"Atri families to the White House for a special tribute. The Secretary of the Treasury presented medals to Elsie Rios and Alexander Doctorate"Atri.
On February 5, 1985 the block-long federal building at 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, District of Columbia that used to house the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Headquarters was renamed the Ariel Rios Federal Building in his honor.
lieutenant now houses the United States Environmental Protection Agency headquarters. In May 2013, the building was renamed the William Jefferson Clinton Federal Building for former President Bill Clinton.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) headquarters is now located at 99 New York Avenue, North-East in Washington, District of Columbia. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives will honor the memory of Special Agent Ariel Rios by naming the reflecting pool at the current Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives headquarters as the “Ariel Rios Reflecting Pool,” in accordance with the wishes of the family. In 2003, a stretch of 49th Avenue from Flagler Street to 8th Street Southwest was renamed Special Agent Ariel Rios Avenue.
(M Resident 02-633) by the City of Miami.
He was a member of the Presidential anti-drug task force in South Florida.
