BPD offense reports say man who killed CDCR counselor thought victim had lots of money
Sep. 7—Robert Pernell Roberts just wanted to get back into the 'hood, a man told police, according to Bakersfield Police Department offense reports filed in Kern County Superior Court and released Tuesday.
Roberts and the man, whose name is redacted in the documents, saw Bakersfield resident Benny Alcala Jr. charging his electric car at the charging stations in the Target parking lot on Stockdale Highway the night of Aug. 24. Alcala probably had a lot of money because he had an electric car, Roberts told the witness, according to police reports. Roberts approached Alcala, who was sitting on the curb with a shopping bag next to him.
Alcala, 43, started to back away, the court documents said. The interviewed man said he was at a distance, but saw both men on the sidewalk. The man told police he heard a gunshot and began to walk away from the area. Roberts began to follow him, the court documents said.
Alcala, a father of two teenagers, "shouldn't have tried to run away," Roberts said, according to the witness who was not identified in court documents.
A roughly 150-page BPD offense report was released Tuesday, detailing the police investigation into the death of Alcala, a Wasco State Prison counselor. Alcala died at 9:20 p.m. Aug. 24 after being shot twice, the court documents state.
The investigation
Alcala's wife, Valerie Alcala, told police her husband went to his usual spot Aug. 24 to charge his car for an out-of-town trip, according to court documents. He also wanted to get beverages.
However, Valerie Alcala said she grew worried when her phone pinged that their car had been fully charged and would apply a surcharge. She said she called her husband, but he didn't pick up, the BPD report stated.
Valerie Alcala looked up her husband's location using his cellphone and went to the Target on Stockdale Highway. There, she saw his car behind police tape, according to court records.
"She became agitated and uncooperative as she observed (Alcala's) vehicle but was not updated on the investigation," the court documents said.
A day after the shooting, police got an anonymous tip. A person told police they got a text from someone around 10:50 p.m. the night of the shooting.
"I just killed someone, turn on the news," read the text message, according to the court documents.
Police said in the offense report that Alcala's death was the only homicide on broadcast news around 11:30 p.m. Aug. 24.
"I found the timing of the text message in relation to the timing of the release to be significant as it related to this homicide," the investigating officer wrote.
A man also reported to the BPD his car was struck by gunfire when he was going west on Stockdale Highway around 8:30 p.m. The bullet didn't pierce the car, according to court documents.
BPD officers began to piece together a timeline by examining surveillance footage of the businesses at The Shops at River Walk.
Video from Target showed two men walking into the store, and then toward the charging stations. These same people were seen reaching the charging station in video footage from Pacific Western Bank, according to court documents.
Police began looking for these two men and found one after canvassing the area, according to court documents. This person said he knew Roberts — who he identified as AWOL — and was with him the night of the shooting. The man interviewed by police was wearing the same clothing as in the surveillance footage examined by police, the court documents state.
A DMV photograph of "AWOL" showed him to be Robert Roberts, according to BPD offense reports.
Another witness also identified Roberts with "100 percent certainty," the court documents state.
Roberts has about 14 different cases starting from 2011 listed in Kern County Superior Court online database, some of which have been dismissed. They range from misdemeanors to felonies, and include crimes such as burglary and robbery.
He is scheduled for his arraignment Wednesday.
You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @_ishanidesai on Twitter.
