Coast Guard officers pulled up and ordered the boat's occupants, at gunpoint, to exit the boat. They refused to comply, and the panga raced away. It then stalled, refused further orders, and sped away again, the complaint said.

In the third try, a Coast Guard officer pepper-sprayed both men on the panga. That boat's driver was detained after a struggle with Coast Guard officers, while his passenger was "detained without incident," the criminal complaint said.

The suspects had entered the United States "illegally from Mexico," according to the document.

Meija-Leyva told investigators "he was taking gasoline to some lost friends north of Los Angeles," and Beltran-Higuera said he'd been offered $3,000 to transport gas to a waiting panga boat off the U.S. coast. As for what happened early Sunday, Beltran-Higuera said he heard people yelling "Stop! Put your hands up!" then "a series of gunshots before the Coast Guard vessel collided with the panga," the criminal complaint stated.

The same day the two suspects were in court, colleagues of Horne remembered him as a devoted Coast Guardsman and beloved friend. The Redondo Beach, California, resident, 34, was second-in-command on the Cutter Halibut.

"Words cannot express (the) admiration that I have for him," said the ship's commander Lt. Stewart Siebert, as he fought back tears. "He was my friend, he was my confidant, he was the glue that held my crew together."