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Rafael Calderon Brito testifies in homicide trial of Johan Pujols, 24, of Hazleton.
Pujols
WILKES-BARRE – Rafael Calderon Brito testified Thursday he felt guilty about the Aug. 1, 2009, shooting death of his cousin, Yuery Manuel Colon.
He felt that way, he testified, because Colon, also known as Shorty, was trying to warn Brito that Johan Pujols, 24, of Hazleton, was holding a gun outside Club 570 in Hazleton.
Brito’s testimony came in the third day of Pujols’ trial on homicide and other related charges.
The Dominican Republic native and father of two said he went to the club that night with Colon because the two hung out on a daily basis. Testifying with the help of an interpreter, he said he saw a fight break out between Luis Perez Rodriguez and Pujols’ cousin, Edwin Leon when bouncers told the men to leave.
One of the last to leave, Brito said he lost sight of Colon and saw Rodriguez leaning against a car outside breathing heavily. Brito, also of Hazleton, said he walked up to Pujols and asked him what happened.
“(Colon) came running towards us saying, ‘He has a gun, he has a gun,’ ” Brito said. Pujols lifted the gun, Brito said, and fired a shot in the area where Colon was running.
Brito said he grabbed Pujols’ arm and tackled him to the ground when three more shots were fired.
Colon was lying on the ground nearby when Brito approached him and drove him to the Hazleton General Hospital just a few yards down the road.
Under questioning by Pujols’ attorney, Joseph Sklarosky Sr., Brito said he did not know how Pujols got shot in the wrist. He said Colon was not screaming ‘Get the gun,’ and that he didn’t try to turn the weapon on Pujols.
Sklarosky alleged Wednesday during testimony that Rodriguez was a member of the New York-based Dominican gang, the Trinitarios, and that the shooting was gang-related.
But on Thursday, prosecutors called Hazleton Detective Christopher Orozco, who also works with the FBI as a gang identification expert.
He testified in detail about gangs located in the Hazleton area and the several identifiers of each gang. Orozco said Rodriguez was a “poser” – someone who imitates gang signs and symbols to appear as if they are representing a specific group.
“I do not believe Mr. Rodriguez is a gang member,” Orozco said, adding he didn’t see any tattoos, clothing or signs Rodriguez allegedly displayed in photos to be indicative of a Dominican gang.
Orozco said that in the several photos of Rodriguez allegedly showing gang signs by using his hands that Rodriguez was using many signs not particular to one group.
“Gang members don’t show other gangs signs,” Orozco said. “That’s disrespectful to their own group. That’s like a Steelers fan wearing Baltimore (team logos).”
Prosecutors also called Frederick Toy, a doctor at Hazleton General Hospital, to testify. He said Rodriguez could have died from the gunshot wound he received to his abdomen.
Brito’s girlfriend, Yaneiry Castillo, also testified she saw Rodriguez and Leon fighting toward the end of the night and she heard Colon screaming that Pujols had a gun.
“He was still breathing,” Castillo said of when she and Brito took Colon to the hospital. “I lifted up his shirt and saw a small hole in his (abdomen).”
Pennsylvania State Trooper Phil Barletto also testified about blood spatter on the roadway outside Club 570, and said a longer trail belonged to Pujols while a shorter trail belonged to Rodriguez.
Barletto said he collected evidence from the scene, as well as the three men involved, and that shell casings found on the ground cannot tell investigators where the shooter was standing.
What’s next
Testimony will continue today at 9:30 a.m. before Luzerne County Judge Tina Polachek Gartley in courtroom number two at the Luzerne County Courthouse, Wilkes-Barre. The prosecution is expected to complete calling witnesses this afternoon.