Four alleged gang members, including two teens being prosecuted as adults, were arraigned Friday on murder charges in connection with the fatal shooting of a Marine veteran at an Antioch bar. Lizandro "Tony" Bertolazzi, a 38-year-old married father of four, was having a drink with a friend at Cruisers Saloon on A Street early in the morning of March 31 when he was killed by gunfire that rang out during a brawl involving the gang members and some other people, police said. The Contra Costa District Attorney's Office this week charged seven people on counts that include murder and conspiracy to felony assault for the benefit of a criminal street gang, deputy District Attorney Andrea Tavenier said. The defendants are Antioch residents Juan Peter Herrera, 22; Giovanni Lopez, 26; Nick Rodriguez, 20; and Alex Gibson, 17; and Pittsburg residents Raymond Wehr, 22; Jamari Ross, 17; and Rudy Cuellar, 22. Wehr is the brother of Armando Curtis Garcia-Wehr, who is serving a 40 years-to-life murder sentence for the September 2007 killing of a 32-year-old Bay Point resident, Walter McDuffie, outside the same bar, when it was known as Club Q. Cuellar and Rodriguez are wanted on warrants. Herrera, Wehr, Gibson and Ross made their first court appearance on Friday and were ordered to return to enter pleas after they have been assigned defense attorneys, Tavenier said. Police said the gang members were kicked out of the Advertisement bar and returned later armed with baseball bats to attack the bar regulars who expelled them. Bertolazzi got up to see what was happening just before he was struck by a stray bullet. Authorities have not released which defendant is suspected of firing the fatal shot. Bertolazzi, of Antioch, was a Marine-trained mechanic who retired at rank of sergeant and was caring for his sons while his wife was stationed in Virgina with the Army. He worked the night shift performing systems maintenance at Kaiser Permanente facilities in Berkeley before meeting a friend at the bar. He didn't know there had been a conflict there earlier in the night.
You Might Also Like :
0 comments:
Post a Comment