College Station police (CSPD) arrested four men by mistake for the burglary of an apartment and assaulting a resident last December.
WTAW News has invited College Station’s police chief to be interviewed and/or provide a statement about what happened.
Assistant Brazos County district attorney Jessica Escue told WTAW News that CSPD investigators identified the four original suspects after comparing surveillance video with photographs.
Escue says three days after the original four were arrested, one of the men came to the D-A’s office with his parents and their lawyer. Escue says they provided information which proved that none of the four were involved.
Then the D-A’s office contacted CSPD with the new information. Escue says CSPD “determined that in fact the four original suspects had been misidentified and the correct perpetrators of the burglary were in fact four different individuals.”
That led in the D-A’s office immediately rejecting the prosecution of Pedro Cardenas, Santiago Vidaurri, Marcelo Masso, and Francisco La Garza.
Escue says the arrests of the four men will be expunged, meaning there will be no record of what happened.
Escue also says she does not remember this set of circumstances happening in her 16 years with the D-A’s office.
She went on to say that “The district attorney’s office as well as law enforcement are committed to making sure that we hold the correct people accountable for offenses and that we do not charge incorrect people. And so we are always eager and willing to listen if there is additional evidence out there to say that we made a wrong call.”
Cardenas, who contacted WTAW News and provided documents from the D-A’s office showing prosecution was rejected, issued the following statement:
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the College Station DA office and the College Station Police Department for the unwavering commitment to justice in the wake of the events on January 23, 2024. Your persistence and dedication to resolving this matter have not gone unnoticed, and I am deeply appreciative of your efforts.
Lieutenant Harris, Detective Lovelace, and all members of the College Station Police Department involved in the reinvestigation of my case, your thoroughness and diligence in rectifying the injustice I faced have brought a sense of relief during a challenging time. Your commitment to upholding justice has been instrumental in restoring faith in the legal system.
Likewise, to the Assistant District Attorneys at the College Station District Attorney’s Office, I extend my heartfelt gratitude for your tireless efforts in ensuring that justice prevailed. Your dedication to fairness and truth has been a beacon of hope throughout this ordeal, and I am truly thankful for your advocacy on my behalf.
While the road to healing may be long, your steadfast pursuit of justice has been a source of strength for me. I am hopeful that with your continued support, we can work towards preventing similar injustices from occurring in the future.
Once again, thank you for your persistence, dedication, and commitment to justice.
Click below to hear comments from Jessica Escue, visiting with WTAW’s Bill Oliver:
