By Roxanna Jarvis
SACRAMENTO – A disturbance coming from a motel room led to the discovery of a loaded gun and the arrest of a Sacramento man for possession of methamphetamine.
The defendant, Enero Trejo, was arrested for possession of a 45 caliber handgun, along with possession of methamphetamine and narcotics paraphernalia. His preliminary hearing was late last week in Sacramento County Superior Court.
On May 5, 2020, Officers Jeffrey Carr and Brian Suvankham were flagged down by a civilian at the Oasis Inn at 7:15 a.m. after answering a call across the street at Best Western Inn. The civilian, N.S., told the officers a man staying at the Oasis hid a gun inside the bushes and left the motel on foot. The suspect was apprehended nearby and identified as Enero Trejo. A search of Trejo’s satchel led to the discovery of a used four-inch pipe and 2.64g of methamphetamine.
Deputy District Attorney Brandon Jack called Officer Carr to testify via Zoom. Recalling the incident, Carr said N.S. waved to his and Suvankham’s patrol cars across the street and motioned for them to come over.
N.S. said he was finishing up his night shift when he heard a disturbance coming from room 112, located directly behind the front office. He said he called the room to investigate what was going on.
A man and a woman were arguing, during which the man took the woman’s I.D. card, said N.S., who testified he told the man to give the I.D. back, which he did. The woman then proceeded to get into her 
vehicle in the parking lot and leave.
The man then asked N.S. if he could use the front office phone to call for a taxi, but N.S. refused and told him to leave.
As the man left the motel room, N.S. noticed him looking in the direction of the patrol vehicles across the street and knelt in nearby bushes. To N.S., the man appeared to be hiding something in them.
When N.S. questioned what the man was hiding, the man said “nothing, nothing” and walked away.
Officer Carr noted that N.S. could not see what was being hidden and whether the man took anything out of his satchel. But, N.S. mimicked the man’s motions to Carr—fluffing motions tidying up the bushes.
After the man left the scene, N.S. looked in the bushes and found a handgun loaded with a single bullet. Officers Carr and Suvankham were then waved down by N.S.
Officer Suvankham went to look for the suspect while Carr stayed at the scene to take N.S.’s statement.
Over police radio, Carr said he relayed to Suvankham that the suspect was wearing a black hoodie and had face tattoos. Suvankham found a man matching the same description located at the end of the block crossing an intersection and flashed his emergency lights at him. The man was identified as Trejo.
Suvankham detained Trejo and placed him in the back of his patrol car. When asked to have his satchel searched, Trejo informed Suvankham there would be narcotics inside.
The bag, according to court testimony, contained a black eyeglass case holding a four-inch pipe, and a small bag containing 2.64g of methamphetamine—with a white tube sock wrapped around the case.
Per the incident at the Oasis, Trejo explained, said officers, that he was tying his shoe and was not aware of any gun in the bushes. When asked if the gun would display his fingerprints, Trejo replied, “I don’t know.”
Assistant Public Defender Ariana Alejandre, in cross-examination, was able to get Officer Suvankham to admit he never spoke to N.S. or went to investigate the scene of the incident.
Both Carr and Suvankham were asked to identify Trejo in court. Over 10 feet away and hard to discern due to the courtroom’s blurry camera, Suvankham pointed out Trejo, who took his mask off for identification.
Carr, on the other hand, was unsure and had to have the camera moved closer. But he did identify the defendant as Trejo.
Again, under cross, Officer Carr admitted he made the mistake of not putting, in the police report, the suspect’s clothing and N.S. mimicking the suspect handling the bushes.
Surveillance video of the incident provided by N.S. shows only a clip of the incident and not any recording of the hours before. The woman with Trejo was not able to be contacted by Carr on May 5, and there were not any attempts to do so after that day.
The court still found sufficient evidence that Trejo had committed the charges filed against him, and set a trial date for Trejo to appear on August 17 at 8:45 a.m.
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