A Tucson man was sentenced to four years’ probation Wednesday for his role in a deadly 2017 robbery near the downtown rattlesnake bridge.
Joseph Anthony Santos, 19, was one of two people arrested in the robbery and shooting that left Nicholas Encalade, 53, dead on Oct. 12, 2017, in Iron Horse Park east of downtown.
Daren Encinas-Pablo, 17, the alleged gunman, is set to go to trial Feb. 26. He faces numerous charges, including first-degree murder, armed robbery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
In the shooting, Encalade and Mary Burr were sitting in the park about 7:30 p.m. when Santos and Encinas-Pablo approached them.
Encinas-Pablo pointed a gun and demanded the pair’s belongings, according to a Pima County Superior Court interim complaint. Encalade gave them $5, a silver bracelet and some rings. Burr gave them at least one of her rings. She later told police the men started to leave, but then turned back and the gunman started shooting.
Encalade was shot at least four times and later died in at a hospital. Burr was uninjured.
About 15 minutes later, police found Encinas-Pablo shot in the stomach. He told police Santos had pointed the gun during the robbery and then shot him in the stomach.
Santos was arrested later on the Tohono O’odham Nation. He blamed Encinas-Pablo for the shooting during the robbery, court records say.
Santos pleaded guilty to felony robbery. He accepted a plea deal that came with either prison time or up to four years’ probation.
Judge Michael Butler told Santos he faced going to prison for the rest of his life and called the terms of the plea a second chance.
“You are one lucky young man,” Butler said during the sentencing.
County Attorney John Edgett, who had recommended that Santos have supervised probation rather than spend four months in prison, said the circumstances of how Encalade was killed will probably never be known with 100 percent certainty.
Santos is also required to pay $3,182.07 in restitution to the Pima County Crime Victim Compensation Fund and $1,260 to Encalade’s daughter. The courts have 90 days to decide whether to order a restitution to Burr.
