Two men were charged with capital murder Tuesday in connection with a drive-by shooting in Montebello.
Bernardo Martinez, 21, and Nicholas Rodriguez, 27, are accused of opening fire at a group of people from a vehicle around 1:45 a.m. Saturday in an alley in the 600 block of Garfield Avenue. One man — Rudy Elguezabal — was struck multiple times and died at a hospital, according to police and prosecutors.
Two other people with Elguezabal escaped injury.
Thanks to witness descriptions of the suspects’ vehicle, police spotted the pair a short time later, prompting a short pursuit, police said. The suspects eventually bailed out of the vehicle near Garfield and Graves avenues, but both were captured.
Both were charged with murder, with the charge including a special circumstance allegation the crime was committed during a drive-by shooting with the intent to kill. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty.
Martinez and Rodriguez were also charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of shooting from a motor vehicle. Rodriguez was also charged with a single count of fleeing a pursuing officer’s vehicle while driving recklessly, according to the District Attorney’s Office.
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