Michael Anthony Lozano’s attorney moved to suppress evidence in his trial for unlawfully carrying a weapon.
SAN ANTONIO — Two years and three months, and ten resets later, a man accused of showing up at an Edgewood ISD elementary school with a shotgun, finally stepped forward on the road to justice.
The Michael Anthony Lozano, 26, was set to move forward with a trial at the 227th District Court on Tuesday morning.
Lozano is charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon in a prohibited place but before the proceedings could get underway, his attorney filed a motion to suppress most of the evidence against him.
Attorney Jim Tocci told Judge Christine Del Prado he had numerous objections to the way the arrest and the prosecution of the case have moved forward.
Opting to hear the motion first, the defense called the lead police officer with Edgewood PD to talk about the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
Now former Officer Jonathan Garza told the court he was called to Roosevelt Elementary on March 23, 2023 to respond to a plea from a concerned parent about a man who was said to be acting suspiciously and appeared to have some sort of long gun carrying case.
Explaining still photographs taken at the scene, Garza identified both the shotgun and a plastic bag of shells investigators said were seized from Lozano during the course of his arrest.
With Garza admitting that at that point, Lozano had not been advised of his rights, Tocci told the judge he specifically objected to moving forward.
Trying to learn more about what happened during questioning, a video segment from an onboard camera inside the patrol vehicle was played.
Officers can be heard asking the handcuffed man for his name and date of birth and other questions, which Tocci said clearly proved he was subjected to a custodial interview.
The video clip also included what the attorneys for both sides called rambling spontaneous statements from Lozano.
Tocci also took issue with the charge of being in a prohibited place because Lozano was said to be wandering around in a field near the back entrance to the campus but not inside school grounds.
Both Garza and Edgewood Sgt. Raymond Blanquiz, who followed him on the stand, said after Uvalde and other school attacks, it is common for school district police to take very assertive actions when presented with people behaving suspiciously, even when no weapon is visible, as was the case at Roosevelt Elementary.
Judge Del Prado told both sides she would carefully review everything presented and issue a ruling on the motion to suppress in the coming weeks and she set a trial date for August 18.
In the meantime, Lozano remains free on bond.