Authorities have charged two additional Aurora men in connection with a 2014 shooting that started as a marijuana deal between two groups planning to rob each other on the city’s West Side, officials said.
Jorge M. Diaz, 21, and Andres Fonseca, 21, each have been charged with single counts of attempted murder and attempted armed robbery.
According to Aurora police and court records, the two men were on opposite sides of a November 2014 drug buy ruse arranged by Antonio Isaias — with the help of Fonseca and Isaias’ brother, 21-year-old Patrick Maloney — to rob the seller, Jody Arreola, of his marijuana. Similarly, Arreola enlisted the help of two friends — including Diaz — with the idea to rob Isaias of cash, officials said.
At least one person associated with each side showed up on Coral Avenue, and a shootout resulted. Isaias was shot twice in the back. He pleaded guilty in January to attempted murder and attempted armed robbery counts. His sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Police on Thursday confirmed Diaz was the other person wounded in the shooting, with a gun shot to the shoulder. The U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Regional Fugitive Task Force assisted police in arresting Fonseca and Diaz within the last week in the Aurora area. Fonseca is expected in court April 1, while Diaz is scheduled to appear April 8. Both are being held in the Kane County Jail.
Maloney, of Aurora, was sentenced to six years in prison last week after he pleaded guilty to a single count of armed robbery alleging he was armed with a “heavy piece of metal” when he took property from Arreola and Diaz. Police previously said Maloney drove a vehicle containing Isaias and Fonseca during the incident and took his injured brother to the hospital.
Arreola, 18, recently posted bond to be released from the jail as he awaits trial in his attempted murder and attempted armed robbery cases.
Aurora police spokesman Dan Ferrelli said the investigation continues and additional charges are probable.
Dan Campana is a freelance reporter.