Tomas Martinez had nearly reached Mexico, cleared of charges in
a grisly Gilroy murder, when police hauled him back into custody,
accused of another crime.
Gilroy – Tomas Martinez had nearly reached Mexico, cleared of charges in a grisly Gilroy murder, when police hauled him back into custody, accused of another crime.
Martinez, 21, is the second man arrested on suspicion of the Stoney Court shooting, a March assault that had proved tough to solve. He was previously arrested on murder charges, accused of stabbing Juan Lugo to death in a downtown alley. Prosecutors dropped the charges July 17 when DNA evidence failed to link Martinez to the crime, and handed him over to Immigration and Naturalization Services to deport him. Wednesday, police reeled Martinez back into jail, accusing him of the Stoney Court attack.
“Initially, people weren’t talking,” said deputy district attorney Amir Alem, describing how police linked Martinez to the shooting. “But later they put him at the scene – and he made statements.”
Witnesses said a pale-skinned man in a beanie strolled up to the white Toyota Corolla, parked outside the Stoney Court Apartments just before 11pm March 27. He knocked on the window, witnesses said, and asked if the four men inside were Sureño. The man called himself Casper, and claimed he was an “Eighth Streeter,” part of a Sureño-affiliated Gilroy gang.
“We’re just paizas” – countrymen, one witness remembered.
Their answer didn’t seem to matter. Jeering “you f—-ng scrapas,” the man drew a gun and fired a handful of bullets, wounding Mario Avina and another passenger identified only as Ruben in public documents. Avina said the gunman fled in a brown Cadillac, parked at the opposite end of the complex.
Police sought Norteño gang members who go by “Casper,” a common moniker, according to one witness. Nineteen-year-old Jose Luis Cardenas was one, police believed. When investigators showed his photograph to Avina and Jose Quiroz, the driver of the white Corolla, they stared, as if in recognition. “He does look a lot alike,” said Avina, studying Cardenas’ photo, according to Investigator Paco Rodriguez’ report.
In April, police arrested Cardenas for the crime, only to see him freed days later, when deputy district attorney Stuart Scott declined to file charges against him, citing insufficient evidence. The day of his arrest, Cardenas grinned and told police, “You got the wrong guy,” Rodriguez wrote. “I know what you are talking about,” he added, according to Rodriguez, “but you got the wrong guy.”
“He’s a good boy,” said Lonnie Valdez, who let Cardenas stay at her Rosanna Street home just before his arrest. Police combed Valdez’ home, recovering a .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol (Valdez said it was hers), a piece of paper that read ‘NORTE’, three black beanies, and other items.
Cardenas was no stranger to Gilroy police: In January, he failed to appear in court on charges of possessing two forged money orders worth $600, forfeiting a $7,500 bail bond. He has also been convicted of grand theft and possession of a controlled substance, both felonies.
Surveillance cameras focused on the Stoney Court parking lot failed to reveal the gunman’s face, but showed the white Corolla backing up to the north end of the complex, before the shooting. When police presented Mario Avina with the evidence, Avina admitted he’d stopped to confront his brother, Francisco Avina, who was sitting in the brown Cadillac. The two have “brother hatred,” according to witness Jaime Ruiz, who was in the parking lot later, when the gunman opened fire.
Questioned by police, Francisco Avina said the two spar because Mario wants him to be a “cholo” – a gangster – and dresses in blue, like a Sureño. Investigator Rodriguez glanced at Francisco Avina’s red sweater. Francisco Avina said he only wears red to dodge attacks by Norteños.
In the months after Cardenas’ arrest and release, police pieced together who was sitting in the brown Cadillac: Francisco Avina, Humberto Casas, Cesar Guijarro, and two men named as ‘Bucki’ and ‘Guero,’ the latter eventually identified as Tomas Martinez. At the same time, police were searching Martinez’ Church Street apartment, seeking clues to the stabbing murder of Juan Lugo. There, they found a .22 caliber handgun, which matched witness descriptions from the Stoney Court shooting.
Rodriguez presented Ruben, one of the Stoney Court victims, with a photo lineup: Martinez and a Norteño gang member known as Casper. Ruben stared long and hard at the photo, not breaking his gaze for 15 to 30 seconds, Rodriguez wrote.
“This one looks familiar,” he said, according to Rodriguez’ report. “The shape of the mouth – everything – the nose.”
Investigator Hugo Del Moral asked Ruben to rate his certainty from 1 to 10. Before Del Moral stopped speaking, Ruben asserted, “Yes, it looks like that’s him.”
Gilroy police hastened to arrest Martinez before his deportation, wiring a warrant to the San Diego Central Jail July 20. Alem said Martinez was actually taken off a bus bound for the border when the warrant was served.
“He was going to be deported,” said Gilroy Police Sgt. Jim Gillio, the department spokesperson, “so we had to pick him up quickly.”
Rodriguez was unavailable for comment Friday.
Neighbors at Martinez’ Church Street apartment complex were shocked by his new arrest. Vanessa Rocha said she sometimes grew annoyed when she saw him drinking in the parking lot, but found it hard to imagine him wielding a gun. Neither could she picture him stabbing Juan Lugo, as he was previously accused of doing.
“He never made me feel intimidated. Sometimes he’d give me a cigarette, or help carry my groceries,” she said. “He’s not somebody I’d pull my kids away from.”
Alem said there’s stronger evidence against Martinez than Cardenas, but most of it hasn’t been made public. Detectives have discussed the case with him, he said, but have yet to finish all their reports.
“There are other factors,” added Sgt. Gillio, “but there are still three outstanding suspects, so we can’t comment on it.”
Martinez pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder Thursday in Superior Court. His next court date is 9am Friday, August 3.
