By Gwynneth Redemann
SACRAMENTO, CA – After hearing from a host of preliminary hearing witnesses, including an eyewitness, Sacramento County Superior Court Judge David Bonilla found sufficient evidence to move forward Friday with felony charges against Hancee Isaac, who allegedly shot a man with a semiautomatic firearm at a gas station in Sacramento.
Sacramento Sheriff’s Office Deputy Yianni Athens was dispatched to the gas station after the shooting and spoke to the victim after they were shot in the leg by someone later identified as Isaac.
In the victim’s statements, taken by Deputy Robert Biggs, the victim said that he was “unable to identify the shooter.” It was later determined by doctors at a local hospital that the victim suffered a broken femur.
Time-stamped video evidence, verified by Sacramento Sheriff’s Office Deputy Heather Emmons, put Isaac at the gas station between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. on May 19 2020 during which the shooting occurred.
Deputy District Attorney Mark Ott called seven members of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office to provide testimony about previous encounters with Isaac, as well as more details about the night of the shooting.
According to Sergeant Ryan Vice, who was a detective with the Gang Suppression Unit in the Sheriff’s Office, on April 9, 2020, a traffic stop was conducted and Isaac was a passenger in the vehicle. Familiar with Isaac, Sergeant Vice later identified him in still screenshots at the gas station where the shooting took place.
Along with video evidence that shows that Isaac was at the scene of the crime, a cell phone was found at the gas station. Downloaded data from the phone revealed that the phone number was the same one provided to the probation office by Isaac in April 2020, according to Detective Lauren Milton.
Assistant Public Defender Isaac Choy asked, “These phone numbers that are kept in the probation database—are you saying that [the retrieved phone number] is Isaac’s phone number, or are you saying that that’s a number that Isaac used to contact probation?”
Detective Milton responded, “It depends on what their logs state. It would be something that would be best directed to how their system works. So it could be one or the other and I don’t remember what specifically this phone number was. I mean I guess anyone in the world could use someone else’s phone to make a call so it very well could have been.”
In addition to the video surveillance and phone found at the crime scene, it was also noted a firefighter/paramedic saw the shooting occur while at a stoplight near the gas station, according to Deputy Ramon Perez.
Deputy Perez spoke to the firefighter/paramedic, who explained he saw a man “put his hand into the vehicle, fire off one round, and then run off to a silver vehicle that took off out of the gas station.”
Deputy Perez was unable to say how far the stoplight was from the gas station. It was determined that the firefighter/paramedic could not see the face of the shooter.
Other testimony included now-retired Detective Glen Petree, who confirmed his belief that, based on the surveillance evidence from the shooting, Isaac was the shooter in the video.
Based on multiple testimonies presented, Judge Bonilla found sufficient evidence to move forward with the charges against Isaac.
The issue of Isaac being released on bail while awaiting trial was addressed. Judge Patrick Marlette had initially set the charges at no bail, given the fact that Isaac had three different felony cases happening at the time.
Judge Bonilla eventually denied the request to set bail, stating that there is “not a less restrictive means to protect the public from [Isaac].”
Isaac will remain in custody with no bail until the trial that is expected to take place on Jan. 18, 2022.
