JOHNSTOWN - Edwin J. Pastor shot David Ortiz in the face when a gun discharged as Pastor struck Ortiz on the cheek with it during the robbery on North Main Street in Gloversville last August, according to testimony Wednesday at the trial of one of three suspects in the case.
Testimony in Fulton County Court in the case of Louis "Black" Robinson, one of three men indicted by a grand jury in the August shooting and robbery, revealed the identity of the shooter and the relationship between the victim and the men charged.
Robinson pleaded not guilty to his alleged involvement in the Aug. 22 incident in which Ortiz, 27, was robbed in daylight of a diamond ring, diamond watch, diamond earrings and cash, and then pistol-whipped and shot in the face in the parking lot of Naif's Discount Beverage & Tobacco on North Main Street in Gloversville.
Robinson and two co-defendants - Codie Hayward, 23, of 16 Littauer Place, Gloversville, and Pastor, 26, of 107 East Ave. in the town of Johnstown - each were indicted Sept. 21 by a county grand jury on 11 felony counts.
Under a plea arrangement, Hayward pleaded guilty to a felony robbery count and may face six to eight years in state prison. Pastor pleaded guilty to a felony count of criminal use of a firearm and may face five to seven years in prison.
It's possible Fulton County District Attorney Louise Sira will call the two co-defendants to testify.
Robinson's attorney, Mark A. Myers of the Albany firm Chenel Myers, may also call witnesses.
Testimony on Wednesday revealed Ortiz knew Robinson and Hayward from previous encounters at Gloversville bars but was unfamiliar with Pastor, who, according to testimony, shot him in the face when the small-caliber gun discharged.
Testimony Wednesday described the following events leading up to the shooting:
On Aug. 22, Ortiz made arrangements for a friend, who lives in Gloversville, involving a girl he was dating to drive him to Fonda to complete paperwork related to his parole.
Ortiz had been released in January 2010 after a 2009 drug-sale conviction and was on parole. Driving and associating with felons are violations of parole.
Early that afternoon, he was at a house on Judson Street when he asked to drive the white Chevrolet Suburban - rented for a batchelorette party in Atlantic City the previous weekend - to Naif's to purchase cigarettes.
On the way to Naif's, he saw Robinson, whom he knew only by "Black" and exchanged phone numbers during a brief conversation in the SUV around 1:12 p.m., according to phone records admitted into evidence.
According to the victim's testimony, Ortiz then received a phone call from Robinson, who made arrangements to meet him at Naif's.
Ortiz waited at Naif's for Robinson, got back in the Suburban, circled the block, then returned to Naif's to find Robinson and Hayward walking up the parking lot from the rear of the property.
He said he shook hands, told Hayward he was happy the man was safe after having been shot at his residence the previous week, and then Pastor, whom he did not know, approached Ortiz and held a gun to his face.
The victim said he was stunned as he noticed Hayward also had a pistol pointed down toward Ortiz's hip.
Ortiz said Robinson had his hand in his pants, but he wasn't sure if he had a gun.
Ortiz surrendered a diamond ring, a Joe Rodeo JoJo diamond watch, diamond earrings, some cash and the keys to the SUV.
Pastor then struck Ortiz on the right cheek with the gun, then the back of the head as Ortiz tried to duck, then as Pastor struck him on the left cheek, the gun discharged, and the three men ran to the back of Naif's while Ortiz ran to the front, according to testimony.
His wound required 60 stitches to the outside and inside of his nose. There was a black burn mark on his cheek where the bullet grazed the skin..
As he fled, he noticed a gold-colored car leaving, asked a family on the street to take down the license plate, was given a bottle of water in Naif's and ran up Fifth Avenue when he heard police sirens after a 911 call at 1:44 p.m. reported the shooting.
Gloversville and state police located that car - which was borrowed - abandoned at the Lowes parking lot in Amsterdam.
Sira admitted surveillance video into evidence that depicted Robinson and Hayward meeting up with two men in Lowes at 2:17 p.m. Aug. 22 and then leaving within less than 10 minutes without buying anything.
While being treated by emergency personnel on Fifth Avenue, Ortiz received a phone call from Robinson, who reportedly said, "Remember, don't snitch. We'll deal with this in the streets," according to testimony.
Myers asked Ortiz whether he was meeting Robinson for a drug deal at Naif's, and Ortiz said no. He also had a different version of Robinson's words to Ortiz in the last phone call: "He told you he would take care of this in the streets."
"No. He said, 'Remember, no snitching,'" Ortiz answered.
According to testimony from Gloversville Police Department Capt. Donald VanDeusen, Ortiz initially lied to police, telling them he did not know the men who robbed him.
Several witnesses testified they saw Robinson wearing Ortiz's watch in the days leading up to Aug. 24, when Gloversville police arrested Robinson at a residence on North Main Street. VanDeusen said the watch was found in the bathroom of the residence Robinson was visiting.
Once police presented the watch to Ortiz, he agreed to cooperate.
"He started to cry. He told me I didn't understand, and that I was making him do something that was going to get him killed if he told the truth," VanDeusen said.
VanDeusen testified that one of the men Hayward and Robinson met at Lowes was the ex-boyfriend of the woman Ortiz was dating.
The investigation into the incident remains pending.
Testimony will continue today before Judge Richard Giardino and a jury. Closing arguments may be made by the end of the week.