Patterns in October 2012 robberies weren’t typical of Lubbock crimes, detective tells Chaparro jury
By Walt Nett, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The weeklong string of nightly robberies -- ranging from home invasions to accosting victims in driveways -- had far more similarities than
The trial is scheduled to resume this morning,
Chaparro is the first of at least five co-defendants to be tried on charges ranging from burglary of a habitation to aggravated robbery and first-degree organized crime stemming from a spree that police said ran from
Aggravated robbery is a first-degree felony, punishable on conviction by a life sentence or a sentence of between five and 99 years in prison.
Lofton told the jury the robbers' activities produced a pattern
"The victims' descriptions had so many similarities -- the weapons, the masks, the same clothing, the same physical characteristics," Lofton said.
The robbers wore either
Since then, the prosecution has offered DNA evidence linking the masks and gloves to different defendants in the case.
Lofton, who has since returned to uniformed patrol duties, headed the investigation into the five robberies.
The first break police got in the case was from a witness providing a license plate number to a car owned by the grandmother of one of the co-defendants, he said, noting a second break came when a
Chaparro was driving the car but had no license or insurance to show the officer. A search of the vehicle found items that were traced to the robberies.
In court Tuesday afternoon, prosecutor
One of the patterns Lofton commented on was that on nights when the robberies took place, some defendants weren't answering telephone calls or text messages during the times when the robberies took place.
Other text messages revealed several key points about the situation and family connections.
Among the text messages the prosecution displayed for the jury was a series of messages
On the first night of the robberies, text messages from a cellphone identified as belonging to
One message read: "Cage has school. DON'T GET IN TROUBLE!"
One of the other co-defendants,
When Salazar tries to say it's his, Cage Chaparro replies: "What? I thot its ours and we splittin the do."
Salazar then agrees it could be sold for
The prosecution also presented several text messages between Cage Chaparro and an unidentified female.
The woman apparently is asking about their relationship, and Cage Chaparro replies: "its jus i do a lot o things that could get me locked up for a wile. i dont want to fall in love with no one before i go."
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