Sacramento judge drops murder charge against man in bar fight that ended in his father’s death
A Sacramento Superior Court judge on Wednesday determined there was insufficient evidence for a man to stand trial on a charge of murder in the inadvertent death of his father last month after a bar fight escalated to gunfire.
Oscar Alferez Jr., 33, however, will stand trial on charges of attempted murder, assault with a semi-automatic firearm and firing a gun at an occupied vehicle in connection with the brawl that spilled into a parking lot and led to the death of his father, 51-year-old Oscar Alferez Sr.
The fight started about 1:30 a.m. Jan. 26 inside Harry’s Sports Bar and Lounge in the 4500 block of Auburn Boulevard in the Old Foothill Farms neighborhood. Sacramento County sheriff’s officials have said the son had started the fight with another patron.
The brawl had moved outside when Alferez Sr. brandished a gun and threatened the man fighting his son, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The father was knocked to the ground and disarmed during the fight, before his son picked up the gun.
Sheriff’s officials said Alferez Jr. fired gunshots at the other man’s car as he drove away, causing the man’s vehicle to hit Alferez Sr., who was still on the ground.
The elder Alferez was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the car stayed at the scene as deputies arrived. Sheriff’s officials said Alferez Jr. fled but he was arrested several hours later.
On Thursday, Alferez Jr. remained in custody at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center near Elk Grove. He is being held without bail.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office confirmed Alferez’s preliminary hearing ended Wednesday with the judge’s ruling that dropped the defendant’s murder charge and ordered him to stand trial on the three other felony charges.
Alferez is scheduled to return to court March 3 to be arraigned on the remaining criminal charges and to determine when to schedule his trial.
