BRAZOS COUNTY D.A. DROPS CHARGES AGAINST ST. JOE FOUR

Special to El Rrun-Rrun

Sources with Bryan-College Station media outlets say that they have confirmed that the Brazos County District Attorney's Office has dropped the charges of Burglary With Intent to Commit Assault against the three remaining defendants who are St. Joseph Academy graduates now attending Texas A&M University.

This follows the February 21 Rejection of Warrant Arrest issued by the Brazos County D.A.'s Office of the same charge against City of Brownsville Commissioner Pedro Cardenas' son Pedro Antonio Jr., 20, based upon what the prosecutors considered "Incorrect ID." A formal announcement will be made Monday, they said, requesting anonymity.

Photos of (L-R) Santiago Vidaurri, Marcelo Masso, Pedro Cardenas, and Francisco La Garza.

According to reporters with the The Bryan-College Station Eagle and News Talk WTAW, the Assistant D.A. assigned to the case confirmed the dismissals of the charges filed by the College Station Police Department against the other three Brownsville students identified as Francisco De La Garza, 18; Santiago Vidaurri, 19; and Marcelo Alfonso Masso, 20,

The dismissals of charges comes almost three and one half months after the College Station Police Department charged them four with committing a burglary and beating a  student there in the pre-dawn hours of December 2, 2023. The students were arrested January 23.

News reports at the time also indicated that the four men were also implicated in a criminal trespass of a habitation at the same Standard Apartments approximately one week before the alleged burglary and assault occurred.

The reports indicated that at 3:55 a.m. Dec. 2, 2023, police responded to the Standard Apartment Complex to a report that a man had been assaulted by a group of men, according to police. The victim told police that he was returning home to his apartment when he saw a group of five intoxicated males and two females banging on doors along the hallway.

The group allegedly walked toward the victim’s door and the victim told the group not to hit it, according to police testimony. The victim told officers that the group of males then surrounded him and began assaulting him by hitting him in the face and pushing him into his apartment.

According to the police report, the victim told them that the group of men allegedly continued assaulting him inside his apartment for several minutes. The group of men then ran out of his apartment and down the hall.

The assault was reportedly caught on security cameras and Texas A&M University Police were said at the time that they were able to identify Cardenas, De La Garza, Vidaurri and Masso from the footage. Another male was identified but was not believed to have taken part in the assault.

Their supporters in Brownsville claimed at the time that the arrests were based on racist application of the law by the College Station P.D. and Brazos County District Attorney's Office. They also say the police have identified the real offenders and hinted that potential litigation against the police and DA's Office may follow.