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Fairfield shooting suspect to face trial
FAIRFIELD — A Solano County judge ruled Tuesday that there is enough evidence against Enrique Tabares to continue criminal proceedings against him for allegedly shooting a Fairfield man in what prosecutors and police contend was a gang-related crime.
Defense attorney Thomas Maas tried unsuccessfully to convince the court that there was not enough evidence to show that the Sept. 2 shooting was gang-related or to directly pin the shooting on Tabares.
While Judge Peter Foor said that the evidence did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Tabares was the gunman or that it was a gang-related crime, he also said there was enough evidence to put the matter in front of a jury.
Tabares is accused of firing from a car on three young Fairfield men with a semiautomatic handgun as they walked along East Pacific Avenue, hitting one of them in the abdomen.
Only one of the three testified in court Monday that Tabares was the gunman. Maas also contended in the questioning of investigating police officers that there was no direct evidence gathered in police questioning of witnesses and Tabaras that the shooting was gang-related.
Fairfield police officer Jose Villanueva testified that the investigation of the case is ongoing and that police are trying to find out who else was in the car with the suspected gunman.
Villanueva testified that Tabares had said several times in the past that he was a member of the Sureños street gang. Villanueva also said that the shooting took place very near a street gang hangout, that the victims had hats with a rival street gang’s colors and that such a shooting was the way to instill fear in the Sureños’ enemies.
Tabares will be back in court Nov. 20 to be arraigned on one count of attempted murder and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon, as well as enhancements to the charges that he used a semiautomatic weapon and that the crime was gang-related.
Reach Ian Thompson at 427-6976 or ithompson@dailyrepublic.net. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ithompsondr.
Ian Thompson
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