Three ‘cowards’ quickly caught
The cold-blooded “cowards” accused of murdering a beloved Mission Hill hardware store owner were nabbed thanks to sharp-eyed witnesses, including a meter maid, authorities said yesterday.
“That clerk had actually spoken with the three men and asked them if the car that she was currently ticketing belonged to them. It did not, but she heard one of the men tell the other two, ‘We need to get out of here,’ ” assistant Suffolk District Attorney John Verner said at the arraignments of Jerome Hobson, 38, of Dorchester and Shawn Redden, 26, of Brockton for the brutal murder of AC Hardware owner and Mission Hill businessman of the year Andres “Cholo” Cruz.
The parking clerk — who had taken notes in case she needed to enforce a two-hour parking limit — and another witness called 911 after seeing the gray 2017 Toyota Sienna speed off with a bloodied man in it. Police then spotted the van moments later and eight blocks away, Verner said
Hobson and Redden pleaded not guilty to murder and weapon charges while cowering unseen behind a door. They were ordered held without bail by West Roxbury District Court Judge Mary Ann Driscoll.
A third defendant, Christian SotoOlivero, 21, of Mattapan, also pleaded not guilty at an arraignment at the hospital bed where he is being treated for severe lacerations Verner said he sustained during the armed robbery.
Cruz fought for his life, Boston police Commissioner William B. Evans told the Herald in an interview outside the hardware store yesterday morning.
“He didn’t go down easily. He went down fighting,” Evans said. “Our hearts are broken that they took his life over a senseless thing like money. I’m just happy we got the three cowards who committed this brazen shooting.”
At the murder scene, Verner said, investigators found a “very distinct blood trail” leading from AC Hardware down Tremont Street to St. Alphonsus Street. “There was a large puddle of blood on the passenger side” of where the gray van had been parked, he said. Three witnesses later told police they saw blood on all three men when they left the store. Shocked family members described Cruz, a husband, father and grandfather, as a man who focused on his work and did his best to help out his family.
“He was always a hardworking man. He went to work, he wasn’t a person who was outgoing or always out, he did his job and tried to help out as much as he can,” said Kasanndra Blanco, 18, a member of Cruz’s extended family.
“We are really confused how, after all the years, he had this store and been such a calm guy and known by the community and then this happens out of nowhere,” Blanco said.
“He was a loved man,” a man who identified himself as Cruz’s son said simply outside the courthouse. “A lot of people love him.”
A growing memorial appeared by dawn yesterday outside the hardware store, adorned with flowers, candles, and a recent newspaper article proclaiming Cruz the “volunteer of the year” for some of his work with the local Little League program.
A few miles away at the West Roxbury courthouse, fellow Mission Hill business owners streamed in to show support for their fallen friend.
Neighborhood restaurateur Dermot Doyne, owner of Grub and Penguin Pizza, said his friend of more than 22 years was a “one-man show” who worked seven days a week because his customers would get mad if he closed.
Cruz, he said, kept records of customer debts and had a “pay-whenyou-can” approach.
“He was so humble,” he said. “If someone came in with $22 he’d say ‘$20 is good.’ His store had more than Home Depot and it was cheaper. Every penny in his pocket was all the money he had.”
Doyne said Cruz would even offer to stop by other stores and homes if a customer had broken something he could handily fix.
“He never let you down,” Doyne said. “Good guy, you know?”