Three Men Arrested in Deadly 2001 Gang-Related Shooting
Three men who allegedly shot at an occupied car, killing one of the men inside, have been arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder in the 15-year-old gang-related crime, the Indio Police Department reported today.
Enoc Calderon, 37; Frederico Sanchez, 38; and Juan Antonio Hernandez, 34, are charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder each.
The men also face sentence-enhancing allegations for committing the crime for the benefit of a street gang and for discharging firearms causing great bodily injury and/or death.
Calderon was arrested Thursday in Galt, in Sacramento County, while Sanchez was arrested Thursday during a traffic stop at Palm Drive and Dillon Road in Desert Hot Springs. Hernandez is currently in state prison, but was informed of the new charges he will be facing, said Indio Sgt. Daniel Marshall.
The men are accused in the murder of Alfred De La Garza, who was driving a car with three other men on the night of Sept. 22, 2001.
De La Garza’s 1984 Oldsmobile Cutlass was stopped at a red light on Clinton Street, at Highway 111 in Indio, when the suspects, who were at a nearby 7-11, allegedly approached the car and began yelling and throwing up gang signs, according to a declaration in support of an arrest warrant prepared by Indio Cpl. Leonardo Perafan.
The men threw bottles at the car and began assaulting the victims before shots were fired, Perafan wrote.
De La Garza was hit with multiple shots to the torso and back, killing him, while a backseat passenger sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his lower leg.
Witnesses told police that Calderon snuck around the back of the car and fired the fatal shots, while Sanchez threw a beer bottle at the car and then began punching De La Garza. Hernandez was identified at the scene as one of “several” men who ran toward the car, displaying gang signs.
Sanchez was arraigned Monday and pleaded not guilty to all charges. He is due back in an Indio courtroom on June 22 for a felony settlement conference. Court dates have not been set for Calderon or Hernandez.
