Former gang member testifies at trial
Tommy Salazar describes night of shooting at
Club 7 tavern

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Salazar said he did not know every gang member’s first and last name because they would often use those nicknames instead.

He then testified about the gang’s monthly meetings that he attended while with BMC. He said members were asked to bring in $20 which was placed into a safe.

“If you don’t bring in $20, you get a thing called seconds, where they do what they did to you when they jumped you in,” he said.

At Thursday’s court session, Salazar testified that in order to join a gang, one must endure a beating from other gang members, called “jumping in.”

However, Salazar said he never contributed money to the safe.

When questioned by the defense about his lack of contribution, Salazar said he was able to avoid the beating because it took place on a different day than the meeting. He simply did not appear when requested.

Lee then asked Salazar about the night of the shooting. Salazar testified he knew Flores from work and interacted with him that night.

“I introduced him to Puppet and the homeboys,” he said.

He then testified he noticed a change in Almaraz after he saw Flores’ red Chicago Bulls jersey.

“The air about him changed,” he said.

Salazar said, after he introduced the men, he went back to doing his own thing. He then said Almaraz spoke to him about Flores.

“He said he was going to check those fools, those busters,” Salazar said.

Lee asked for clarification on “checking”.

“Ask them who they are, where they’re from,” he said.

He then said he witnessed Almaraz confronting Flores.

“He said, ‘why are you wearing that shirt?’ And he said, ‘because I like it,’” Salazar testified.

Salazar said the action represented disrespect. Lee asked if disrespect tended to be followed by violence.

“Can’t say that surprises me,” he said. “If someone disrespects me, I’m going to hit them.”

He testified Almaraz hit Flores, and other gang members quickly became involved in the melee.

“That’s when Milo (Armando Castillo-Landin) jumped in,” he said. “I got into it with Thomas Loa (who accompanied Flores to the bar). After me and Thomas were done, there was still a few people on Gabriel.”

He then watched a clarified version of the video Fruitland Police Lt. Stephanie Steele showed the court Thursday.

“They just surrounded him,” he said. “BMC, all the homeboys who were with us.”

He said the fight continued until a man with a cowboy hat pulled Flores from the fray. Lee then paused the tape and asked Salazar to pinpoint the locations of the three men in the image.

Salazar said he was in the background, with Flores in the foreground and Almaraz in the middle.

“That’s Puppet,” he said.

Lee asked Salazar what Almaraz did after he heard the gunshot.

“He hit the door,” he said.

Salazar testified he also left and pointed to two men in camera footage near the door as proof. As with Steele’s testimony on Thursday, Salazar also said Almaraz initially tried to push the door before he realized it swung inward. Lee then switched to an outside camera. Salazar said, in the outside scene, he and Almaraz could initially be seen running in separate directions before running together down the sidewalk.

“The figures go out of sight,” Lee said. “Do you believe that was you and Hector running away?”

Salazar said yes.

Salazar then used a map to show his and Almaraz’s path away from the Club 7 bar.

He testified he saw Almaraz had a .45 caliber handgun.

“I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was waiting for someone to come around the corner,” he said.

Salazar then said Almaraz removed the bullets from the weapon and flicked them over a nearby fence. He then took off his shirt, wrapped the handgun in it and threw it into the bushes.

Defense Attorney Van Bishop continued the firearm questioning.

“Did you say ‘where did you get the gun?’”

Salazar said he hadn’t, which caused Bishop to ask his reasoning.

“Because he had a gun,” Salazar said.

Bishop then asked Salazar how he hoped to benefit from testifying.

“You indicated in direct examination you expected very little,” he said.

Salazar said all he wanted from the deal was to see his grandmother for a few hours before she died.

Bishop asked Salazar if he remembered police officers informing him he could be tried on aiding and abetting for the shooting.

“Aiding and abetting was because we left together,” he said. “Accessories because we went in together.”

Salazar said the agreement was to testify and was only made after the police had received his written statements.

“They got my statements and said they wanted me to get up on the stand, but I didn’t want to,” he said.

Salazar will resume his testimony when court reconvenes on Monday.