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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOIS2023-0003 Interview Witness 2 - Carlos Gonzales_RedactedOrange County District Attorney Bureau of Investigation 300 N. Flower Street, Santa Ana CA, 92703 (714) 834-3600 Special Assignment Supplemental Report Case No. 23-001104 Report No. SPL23-0006 Incident Activity Summary: Report Title:Interview of Roberto Gonzalez-Diaz Activity Date/Time:04/08/2023 00:22 Location Activity Occurred:Santa Ana Police Department Primary Subject:Marvin Ricardo Melgarejo Involvement:SUBJECT Description:Male, Hispanic, 5'10 tall, 140 lbs, thin build, straight short brown hair, brown eyes, facial hair: mustache (thin) DOB:1/11/2003 Age:20 Identification:Driver License: CII Number: Address/Resides: Person:Eddie Nunez Involvement:MENTIONED Employer/School:Santa Ana Police Department: 60 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana CA 92701 Employer/School Phone:Phone: (714) 245-8357 Person: Involvement:WITNESS DOB: Age: Dr, Digital 1)(EVIDENCE) Recovered By: Gonzales, Carlos 349 Qty. 1: Desc: Audio Interview of (Witness Interview) Related To: WITNESS Item Booked:Property booked at: Orange County District Attorney - Digital Storage Hold For: Evidence OCDA 23-001104.016 Report by Gonzales, Carlos 349 Page 1 of 2 Page 3 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 you, alright? What’s your-, what’s full name? NUNEZ: Yes. NUNEZ: And what’s your, what’s your home address? NUNEZ: House, right? . NUNEZ: What’s the zip code there man? . NUNEZ: NUNEZ: What’s your birthday? NUNEZ: You have a phone number? NUNEZ: . NUNEZ: NUNEZ: Before I continue, and we ask you more questions, what I’m gonna do is, you’ve had your, your Maranda rights read before, right? Um, need you to answer yes or no to the questions that I’m gonna ask. Okay? If you don’t understand something just let me know. Okay, says um, you have the right to remain silent. Do you understand? It’s yes or Page 4 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 no. Yes. NUNEZ: Okay. Thank you. Anything you say may be used against you in court, do you understand? Yes. GONZALES: You have the right to an attorney before and during any questioning, do you understand? Yes. NUNEZ: If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before questioning if you wish, do you understand? Yes. NUNEZ: Okay. Today, uh, earlier today around what, 6-, 6:00 o clock or so, um, where were you, who were you with? I was um, I was with a friend. NUNEZ: What’s his name? I don’t know his name. I picked him up so that we could go to a dance, in LA. I have him drive because I didn’t want to drink and drive. We get pull-, we get pulled over, he, he just takes off. He runs off in-, from the car and that’s it. NUNEZ: Why did he run out of the car? I have no idea. I asked him when he turned, like, what are you doing? He didn’t answer me. And that was it, happened fast, I don’t-, I didn’t ask him after that, anything else. NUNEZ: Okay. Where did you pick him up from? From his house. Page 5 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 NUNEZ: Where? Down Bishop street. NUNEZ: On Bishop street? You know the address? No. NUNEZ: I know you know who he is. Okay? He’s a friend. NUNEZ: Okay. You-, I know you know what his name is. Okay, , I don’t want you start with lies. Obviously, we’ve been conducting an investigation already. Okay? And we know that you know who your friend is. Don’t go down that path. Don’t waste our time, we don’t want to waste your time. Okay? Let’s just be honest. What happened, happened, it’s already done. Now we’re trying to figure out why it happened. So, I know that you know who your friend is. So do me-, do me that favor, you know? Give us that respect. What’s your friends name? Uh, his name is MARVIN. NUNEZ: MARVIN what? : Uh, VIEJO. NUNEZ: ***? VIEJO. NUNEZ: Okay. And you said you picked him up on Bishop. Where did you, where did you pick him up at? You said it’s his house. Yeah, his house. I don’t know where, I’ve never been inside his house, I’ve never been-, I don’t know his address. NUNEZ: But you picked him up on Bishop? Page 6 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 Yeah. NUNEZ: And you said you guys were gonna go to LA. Yeah. NUNEZ: To a party. Okay. Um, where’s your buddy from? I don’t know. NUNEZ: ROBERT. I don’t know where he’s from. He-, everybody right there hangs out. I don’t know where-, I don’t know where he’s from. NUNEZ: Is he from Bishop street? I don’t know. NUNEZ: Where are you from? I’m not from nowhere. NUNEZ: You’re not from nowhere? No. NUNEZ: Are you on probation or parole? Uh, it-, *** probation and parole. NUNEZ: Okay, so you are, right? You have conditions, right? Are you supposed to be with, with other people that you should not be with? No. NUNEZ: And that’s where you were today. We’ve already done our little research, I already know you from last time. ‘cause there’s no, no point of-, of playing games. I know you don’t remember me. But we were at your house. We were the ones that, when you got arrested, we allowed you to see your little girls before we took you. That was our decision to do that for you. Right? We remember that, right? Page 7 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 Not really, to be honest, I. NUNEZ: You only remember what your-. *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). I remember-. NUNEZ: *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). It’s convenient. But again, okay, so, you were with MARVIN. You guys were going to go to a dance. How long have you known MARVIN? Like, a year. NUNEZ: A year? Okay. And what’s the reason that he ran from the car? I have no idea. NUNEZ: Did he have anything with him? I have no idea. NUNEZ: You have no idea, so, you just let some guy that you’ve only known… I mean-. NUNEZ: …about a year, you don’t know who he is, you don’t know anything about him. But you’re going to let him… I’m not saying *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). NUNEZ: …drive your car. He’s my friend. NUNEZ: Okay. Why he ran, I’m not sure. NUNEZ: Did he have a gun? I don’t know. NUNEZ: You don’t know? He didn’t tell me that he did. NUNEZ: Okay, so, he runs, what happens next? Page 8 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 Nothing, I had my hands out the window, as soon as he ran, they, they the cops started shooting, and they told me to put my hands out, I put my hands out, and that was it. NUNEZ: Okay, so, again, it was just you and Marvin-? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). As soon as-, yeah. As soon as he got out, they, they start shooting at him, so. That I’ve put my hands out right away, and that was it. NUNEZ: Uh-huh. I didn’t see anything else. He-, after he took off, I didn’t move. I just had my hands out, that was it. NUNEZ: And then what happens? Okay, so, he runs away and you said the cops shot at him. What happens after that? I don’t know. NUNEZ: How did you get here? ***, they hand cuffed me and brought me here. NUNEZ: They hand cuffed you inside the car? Well, they took me out of the car-. NUNEZ: Which way did you get out of the car? From the passenger. NUNEZ: You got out the, the passenger side? Yeah. NUNEZ: You didn’t cross over to the uh-? No. NUNEZ: No? No. Page 9 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 NUNEZ: Okay. So, you got out of the passenger side and then, then that’s when they-. : That was it, they hand cuffed me. NUNEZ: And they hand cuffed you and they brought you here. Does MAR-, is MARVIN known to carry weapons? No. NUNEZ: No. Are you sure? Would it surprise you if we were to tell you that he had a gun? Yeah. NUNEZ: Why? A gun? I mean, I’m sure he would have told me. Like, hey, I have a gun. NUNEZ: But he didn’t tell you? No. NUNEZ: And you said you’ve known your friend for about a year. ***. NUNEZ: Supposedly right? Yeah. NUNEZ: Who’s this guy right here? It’s my friend. NUNEZ: What’s his name? MARVIN. NUNEZ: And this is the guy you were with today? Yes. NUNEZ: And this is the guy that was driving your car? Yeah. Page 10 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 NUNEZ: Where in LA were you going to go? It’s uh, it was in the city of Los Angeles on Pico Avenue. I had the flier. I sent him the flier. NUNEZ: Oh. I told him if he wanted to go. NUNEZ: Okay. And he’s the one that ran out of your car? He was the one driving your car? Yeah. NUNEZ: Okay. What time did you pick him up from your-, from his house? Around 6:00. NUNEZ: About 6:00 o clock? When you guys got pulled over, where were you going? We were take-, we were already going over there to the, to LA. NUNEZ: To LA? So, I’m gonna show you a map. Okay? Let me see if you could tell me where you guys were at when you were stopped, by the officers. Obviously, that’s Bishop, right? What street were you on when you got pulled over? There’s Baker… It was *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). NUNEZ: …Rose Wood, and Shelton. I think it was Shelton. NUNEZ: You think it was Shelton. Yeah, I think he made a right on Shelton. NUNEZ: Are you sure? Not a hundred percent sure. It was either Shelton or the next street. NUNEZ: Which was what, Rose Wood? Page 11 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 Yeah. NUNEZ: Okay. Do you know what happened to your friend? No. NUNEZ: No. When I saw him, he-, when I saw him shooting at him, he-, I just saw him run away, and that was it. NUNEZ: That was it. *** he was running fast? Yeah. NUNEZ: Yeah, what was he wearing? Uh, um, black sweater. NUNEZ: What else? That’s all I remember. I don’t know what pants, I didn’t pay attention. NUNEZ: Uh-huh. Any questions? GONZALES: ROBERTO, I’m- I’m here with the DA’s office, okay? I’m not here about any, any of your-, any problems that you have with the police right now, I don’t care about that. All, all I’m here is doing is investigating why the officers fired their weapons, okay? You say you were a passenger in the van-, in the truck… Yeah. GONZALES: …right? And that’s your truck, is that registered to somebody in your family? Yes. GONZALES: Who’s it registered-? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). My wife’s name. GONZALES: Okay. So, you guys are going to go to a party in LA, you come and pick Page 12 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 him up. Do you remember, you say you picked him up on Bishop, did you pick him up, were you guys closer to Bristol or were you closer to Flower, where were you coming from? On-? It was in the middle. GONZALES: Okay, so, what I-. In between Flower and in between Shelton. GONZALES: You were in between Flo-, between Flower and Shelton? Okay, so, you were, so you were leaving away from Shelton and then you made a right on Rosewood you say when the police pulled you over? Well, I’m not a-, a hundred percent sure, I thought it was Shelton that we made a right on. GONZALES: Okay. But *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). GONZALES: How did you know the-, how did you know the police were even behind you? Well, when we were moving, when we were driving. GONZALES: Straight? Uh-huh. Yeah, we were driving straight. GONZALES: On Brist-, on uh, on Bishop? Towards-, towards Bristol. GONZALES: Okay. We uh, we saw him, we saw the police car. GONZALES: Was the police car behind you or in front of you? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). In front of us. GONZALES: Oh, okay. Okay, so, what happened? Page 13 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 And then when it got behind us, it made a U-turn and got behind us, and that’s when he turned. I asked him what are you doing? GONZALES: Did he make the U-turn there at Shelton where they have that round thing in the middle? Yeah. GONZALES: Okay. So, he went around that roundabout and then started following you guys? Did he have his lights on or anything, or you just were like, hey, it’s-? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). No, he didn’t have GONZALES: *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). This fucker’s going to pull us over? What it-, what was he saying? He didn’t have the lights on. He just uh, he just, he just turned around, and then, uh, what’s his name, um, MARVIN he made a right. I asked him, what are you doing? Just go straight, what-, why didn’t you go straight? And he didn’t answer. And after that… GONZALES: So, did he-? …that was it, he just. GONZALES: Did he pull over uh, uh, in front of that house? Did he-, is that what he did, without being asked, he just pulled over there to stop? Yeah, he-, yeah, he just pulled over and *** that’s why I asked him, like, what are you doing? And he didn’t answer, he just opened the door, took off, running, took off running. And that’s it. GONZALES: *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). Did you know that-, did you know the cops had pulled up behind you? No. Page 14 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 GONZALES: Oh, okay. As soon as he, as soon as he uh, as soon as he opened the door and, and stepped out to run away, I just hear the cops shooting. GONZALES: But, okay, so, when he made the right turn and pulled in front of that house right there really quick, ‘cause he knew the cops were c-, probably going to pull him over maybe, you think? That’s why they went and made a U-turn right? Maybe. GONZALES: There was a little bit of time there from when you stopped, before he took off running. He didn’t just *** pull over, park and then take off, right? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). It was about a minute, probably. GONZALES: So, were you guys talking? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). More or less. GONZALES: Like-. *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). No, I-, I-. GONZALES: *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). Or you were just-? I just, I asked him like, I didn’t even want to. GONZALES: But, did you knew the… *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). I was-. GONZALES: …cops were already behind you at that time? Think so, yeah. GONZALES: Right? Yeah. GONZALES: Did you hear ‘em yelling and saying, hey, keep your hands *** Page 15 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). They didn’t yell anything. GONZALES: You don’t remember them saying anything? : *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). I don’t remember no. GONZALES: Did you ever look in the rear view, your rear-view mirror on the side there to see that they were even behind you? Yeah, I knew they were behind us. I-. GONZALES: Did you see the lights? *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). I figured. GONZALES: Did you see the lights on their car? No. GONZALES: You didn’t see any… No. GONZALES: …lights on their car? But you knew it was a police car? Yeah. GONZALES: You knew they were police officers? How do you-, how do you know they were cops? Well, I saw the police car. GONZALES: When it-. *** (SPEAKING SIMULTANEOUSLY). When they was-. GONZALES: When it first passed you? Yeah. GONZALES: How about when-, did you see ‘em what they were wearing or anything like, that? No. Page 16 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 GONZALES: You never noticed what the cops were wearing? But you knew there was a police car behind you, and you never saw the lights? Yeah. GONZALES: And you just say, hey, you guys sat in the car for about a minute, you asked your buddy, what you’re-, what are you doing? I asked him, and-, yeah, I mean, I looked at him, he didn’t respond so. I, I didn’t ask him again. And I just, I mean, it happened fast. I-, he just opened the door and ran and then as soon as he ran out they started shooting. GONZALES: Okay. And you don’t know why they were-, you don’t know why they would shoot at him? No. GONZALES: You never saw him holding a weapon… No. GONZALES: …or something like, that? He never made any mention that he had a weapon on him? No, I wouldn’t have let him in my car if he would’ve said he had a gun. GONZALES: Did you see when he get out of the car? He tossed something. No. GONZALES: You didn’t even know. I didn’t see that. GONZALES: You didn’t see that? Okay. Uh, I don’t have anything further, detective. NUNEZ: So, he didn’t-, he didn’t tell you, hey, uh, were pulling over and I’m gonna run? No. Page 17 of 17 Case No. 23-001104 NUNEZ: He didn’t say that? No. I asked him, what are you doing? And he didn’t, he didn’t answer. He didn’t tell me he was going to run. He just opened the door and ran. NUNEZ: And ran. Alright. GONZALES: That’s about it, that’s all I have. It is 12:45 or 00:45 on April 8. [END OF INTERVIEW] TRANSCRIBED BY: ERIC CLIFFORD ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE APRIL 18, 2023 REVISED BY: CARLOS GONZALES, INVESTIGATOR ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE JULY 26, 2023