DANIEL Aldan Castro, who was arrested last week for threatening a Commonwealth Utilities Corp. employee with a gun, remains behind bars after the Superior Court denied his application for bail modification on Wednesday.
Following Castro’s arrest on Tuesday last week, Associate Judge Joseph N. Camacho set a $50,000 cash bail during a bail hearing on Monday, and remanded the defendant to the Department of Corrections.
On Monday, Castro, through Assistant Public Defender Molly Dennert, applied for a modification of bail conditions. He asked the court to allow him to be released to a third-party custodian, his wife, on a $50,000 unsecured bond in lieu of the $50,000 cash bail.
The assistant public defender told the court that Castro has no way to afford the $50,000 cash bail.
Castro, 42, also swore “there are no guns” in the house of his wife, with whom he has three young children.
During the bail modification hearing at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Judge Camacho denied Castro’s bail modification application and remanded him to Corrections’ custody. Castro appeared in court with Dennert while Chief Prosecutor Chester Hinds represented the government.
Judge Camacho also retained the $50,000 cash bail for Castro’s temporary release and set the preliminary hearing for May 20, 2024, at 10 a.m.
The complaint
According to the probable cause declaration of Department of Public Safety-Criminal Investigation Bureau Investigator Melvin D. Cadiang, Police Officers Jake Santos and Edwin Basto responded to the scene after DPS received a call from a CUC employee at 9:54 a.m. on Tuesday last week, saying that Castro had pointed a gun at him while he and co-workers were putting up a power pole on Afetna Road in San Antonio.
The CUC employee told the responding police officers that he flagged Castro down because the defendant was driving too fast. The CUC employee said Castro rolled his window down, shouted at him and pointed a black handgun at him, adding that the point of the gun hit his chin.
He also said that Castro had a female companion whom the CUC employee heard saying, “No more, stop it.”
His co-workers told the police officers the same story.
At around 10:55 a.m., Castro’s truck was spotted on Beach Road in San Antonio heading to Koblerville. It was at the Mobil Oil gas station where Santos and Police Sgt. David Hosono saw and approached Castro’s truck. They asked Castro to get out of the vehicle. Santos patted Castro down for any weapons while Hosono searched the truck, but did not find a handgun.
About an hour later, police officers brought the CUC employee to the Mobil Gas Station in Koblerville where he identified Castro as the one who pointed a gun at him.
DPS’ declaration of probable cause stated that on May 9, 2024, Police Lt. George F. David checked and found out that Castro is not a registered firearm holder.
