PEDRO CARDENAS JR. OFF THE HOOK, BRAZOS CTY. DA DROPS CHARGES

Special to El Rrun-Rrun 

Three and one half months after the College Station Police Department charged City of Brownsville Commissioner Pedro Cardenas' son Pedro Antonio Jr. and three other Texas A & M students from Brownsville with committing a burglary and beating a  student there, the Brazos County District Attorney's Office has decided not to prosecute Pedro Jr.

A notation on a Rejection of Warrant Arrest form dated February 21 indicates only that the reason for the rejected prosecution is an incorrect identification.

The four - all St. Joseph academy grads - were arrested and charged with Burglary of a Habitation by the College Station Police Department January 23 said to have occurred in the pre-dawn hours of December 2, 2023.

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

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

A news story by the The Bryan-College Station Eagle  reported that the men were arrested January 23 after nearly two months of investigation. Besides Cardenas, 20; Francisco De La Garza, 18; Santiago Vidaurri, 19; and Marcelo Alfonso Masso, 20, were all arrested on warrants of burglary of a habitation with the intent to commit assault, according to police. All four men are also students at Texas A&M University, according to the university directory.

The report 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 victim, 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 caught on security cameras and Texas A&M University Police were said 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.

According to police, all four men had been suspects in a criminal trespass of a habitation at the Standard Apartments approximately one week before the alleged assault occurred.

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.

It is unknown whether the charges against the other three will also be dropped.