Crime & Safety
Berkeley Shooting: 2 Men Ordered To Stand Trial
The victim survived his wounds in the attack that happened near the Berkeley Marina last July.
OAKLAND, CA — A judge today ordered two men to stand trial on attempted murder and shooting into a motor vehicle charges for a shooting in Berkeley last July that sent another man to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds.
At the end of a preliminary hearing, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Horner said prosecutors produced "significant evidence" that both Alan Garcia, 26, of Richmond, and Mateo Calvillo, 33, of South San
Francisco, shot at the victim while he was driving on Seawall Drive near University Avenue at the Berkeley Marina at about 3:40 a.m. on July 29.
Berkeley police said the victim was shot in his neck twice and in his right wrist once and his car went off the embankment and partially into the water, but he managed to crawl to safety and call authorities.
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Horner said Garcia and Calvillo "were both firing at him (the victim) and perhaps others were as well but we don't know who they were."
Prosecutor Ward Winklosky said the victim doesn't know the motive for the shooting and testified, "I'd like to know why" he was shot.
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Winklosky said the victim "recognized the people who were firing at him" and identified Garcia and Calvillo.
Garcia's lawyer Lauren Williams said she thinks there were "a number of inconsistencies" in the victim's testimony and "there are serious questions about what happened out there."
Williams also said the victim "obviously had a history" of interactions with the people who shot at him.
Calvillo's lawyer Brian Caruth alleged that the victim was hesitant to tell police that Calvillo and Garcia shot at him.
Caruth said that's troubling because the victim wanted to deal with the manner in his own way, indicating that he wanted to take the law into his own hands.
Winklosky said, "We wouldn't encourage him (the victim) to handle it himself" but he said the victim's statement was a credible and understandable explanation for why he initially was reluctant to talk to the
police.
Horner ordered Calvillo and Garcia to return to court on May 3 to have their trial date set.
Calvillo is being held in custody without bail and Garcia is being held in lieu of $2 million bail.
About a half dozen family members of Calvillo and Garcia attended the hearing and some of them cried when Horner ordered the two men to stand trial.
— Bay City News; Image via Shutterstock
