Charles Garcia-Berrios cased out a Gary pawn shop several times in the days and weeks before Derek Sanders went and shot owner Brandon Cruz dead on Nov. 17, a prosecutor said Monday.
The allegations came during the final bail hearing for Garcia-Berrios, 32, of Hammond — the alleged getaway driver. He is charged with two counts of murder, one count each of armed robbery and assisting a criminal. His trial is set for July 28.
He has denied the charges and pleaded not guilty.
Deputy Prosecutor Veronica Gonzalez cited several text messages from Garcia-Berrios’ phone to an unidentified third man, which sometimes included pictures just taken of Cruz’s shop, We Buy Gold, 3720 Broadway Ave.
It was not immediately clear why Cruz was targeted.
Sanders was sentenced last week to 45 years for murder. Defense lawyer Kerry Connor has argued that there’s little proof Garcia-Berrios was the driver.
After his arrest, Sanders told police that Cruz recently sold him “bad” drugs and he went to the pawn shop to get his money back. Gary Police Detective James Nielsen testified Monday he found no evidence of that – including no texts between the men for a drug buy.
A witness told Nielsen they overheard Cruz say he was out of “that life” – a tidbit that matched his criminal history, which was over a decade old.
Garcia-Berrios was in contact with at least one guy who ended up “chickening out” before Sanders was recruited, the detective said.
Under questioning by Connor, Nielson acknowledged that Sanders claimed to police that he panicked when Cruz reached for a gun, before gunning Cruz down.
Nielsen testified police had 38 pages of texts detailing what the officer called a “surveillance operation” from Garcia-Berrios’ phone, including plans to get a “mask” and potentially target Cruz on Halloween.
mcolias@post-trib.com
