Underground

By Raul Sandoval Jr.

About the Book
Underground is the true story of Raul Sandoval Jr. who was sitting in a car waiting for two friends to go in and out of a Taco Bell located in Prunedale, California, only to find out his friends had murdered an employee in a robbery gone wrong and was asked to help them flee the crime scene. Now being charged with first-degree murder, Sandoval flees the country and goes to Mexico on an unbelievable journey, when the U.S. government puts him on America's Most Wanted in 2011. While in Mexico, Sandoval discovers that corruption runs the whole country from the strip clubs to the cartels, to the Mexican government. Tired of living life on the run in 2013, he turns himself in at the Arizona Mexico border, only to find out that there was even more corruption in America!

About the Author
Raul Sandoval Jr. was born in Gilroy, California, and then moved to Salinas, California. From Salinas, Sandoval moved to a nearby town called Prunedale, California. Prunedale was where Sandoval was raised, and where he grew up playing soccer and boxing in the gyms.
After going to jail, Sandoval told so many people his life story that many people suggested he write a book about his life. He took their advice. Ever since Sandoval was exonerated from his crime, he moved back home to Prunedale, California, where he now lives a calm life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RoseDog Books
• Release date: Jun 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889255895

Book preview

Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you — Confucius                  

Chapter 1

Dec 12th 2004, Prunedale Ca, Taco Bell

Paul said, Just weight for me right over there, I’m gonna slit someone’s throat.

I actually went and waited in the car after being told this, not believing anything I just heard. I pulled my cell phone out and started playing video games.

Seven or eight minutes later the phone rang. It was Paul he said, Fuck! Come pick us up everything went wrong, just pick us up! As I turned the ignition on, I drove up and I could see Michael running down the hill. It was dark, I couldn’t see well, as I got closer, I could see Michael waiving a long thick pole it looked like a shadow moving left and right as I got closer, I got a better view at it, and it turned out to be a shot gun.

I pulled right up to them, stopping the car almost in the middle of the street, they both got in in a hurry and Paul says, Step on it! I just killed someone!

I said, Tell me you’re joking.

I’m not joking, I just slit someone’s throat.

I started to panic; I stepped on the gas on the little white Toyota Camry giving it all it goes. Highway 101 was only a couple hundred feet in front of me, I made a sharp right heading north, driving fast and in shock I was in total disbelief of what I just heard.

Tell me what happened? I asked in disbelief.

I had to do it. Paul whispered with his head down while moving his head left and right like he knew he had made some sort of big mistake.

Cautiously and in disbelieve I asked Michael sitting in the back seat as I looked at him through the rear view, mirror. Tell me, what happened?

No answer, complete silence. I still wasn’t sure if Paul was telling me the truth or if he was just joking. We were just at a party minutes before that and now this. I was speeding through the highway nervous making un-signaled lane changes.

Paul suddenly tells me, Make a right here at Crazy Horse Canyon.

I did what he told me to. I made a sharp right and as I drove there was nothing but silence in the car. Just a couple of miles into Crazy Horse Canyon Road Paul lowers his window and starts throwing his gloves out the window, he takes his jacket and shirt off and throughs it out the window in a fast manner like if he was in a hurry, all this as I was driving.

A minute later Paul tells me, Pull over! He nods his head to the right as he looks at me. Here, stop the car. In a firm tone voice.

I did. Paul gets off the car opens the passenger rear door towards Michaels side and tells Michael, Give me the shotgun.

Michael hands him the shotgun. Paul grabbed it and walked through some bushes on the side of the road and heads toward a tree laying the shotgun behind the tree. He gets back in the car.

Drive.

Where to?

Just drive. In a regretful type of voice.

 I was still panicking not knowing what to believe. We drove a couple more miles down the road in silence when Paul all of a sudden tells me, Raul pull over, your panicking way too much, let me drive.

 I said, Yeah, that’s a good Idea. I really didn’t feel like driving.

 I pulled over and we switched seats. Paul takes the wheel. I sit in the front passenger seat and Michael stays in the back without saying a word. Paul flips a u turn and starts heading back down the road we just came.  

We got back on highway 101 and headed north. As I was seated in the car all I could think of was, did this guy really just kill someone or was this some sort of sick joke? As we drove north on highway 101, I felt nervous and fidgety and by accident I happened to grab the car door handle, I felt something squishy on my right hand, so I put my hand in front of me to see what I had touched. I could see the light post on the side of the highway light up the inside of the car every couple of seconds every time we passed one. Light, dark, light, dark, light dark. I drew my hand closer during a brief moment of clarity as the inside of the car lit up, I saw my hand… a thick, dark red mud-like substance covered it… it was blood. It was at that point that I knew this was not a joke.

The future depends on what we do in the present. —Mahatma Gandhi

Chapter 2

As we drove north on Highway 101, There was nothing but silence in the car, out of nowhere Paul decides to break the silence, Sorry for getting you involved in this Raul the driver was supposed to be my cousin, but he backed down the last minute, so I asked you to give us a ride.

What were you thinking Paul? I said in a regretful type of voice. Now were all fucked!

I’m sorry. Paul said. I fucked up big time, but I know you can get us out of this Raul, I have faith in you, help me think of an alibi, we can do this man.  As Paul stared at me as he drove the car.

I thought about it for a couple of seconds, I knew we were all in real serious trouble and I thought there was no way out but maybe if we thought of a good alibi just maybe we could all get out of it. Ok. I said, Tell me everything that happened inside that Taco Bell in detail step by step, don’t leave anything out.

Paul said, "Ok… we walked up and knocked on the front door entrance of Taco Bell and Jake a Taco Bell employee came and opened it. He said, ‘Were closed.’

"So, I told him, ‘I just need to use the bathroom for a minute, please do me this favor.’

And he said, Yes, just for you Paul.’

 I went to the bathroom came back out and told Jake to follow me to the back of the Taco Bell to the cooler section. He was insecure at first, but I put my hand around him and he followed me that’s when Michael took out the shotgun and told the manager ‘This is a stick up.’

As Michael was doing that, I put the handcuffs on Jake, and I made him kneel inside the walk-in cooler and at this point Jake knew this was a robbery. He kept telling me, ‘Don’t do it, please don’t do it, I swear I won’t tell anyone!’ as I got my knife out, he said, ‘Don’t do it please’ he kept begging for his life but, I went all the way anyways. I slit his throat from ear to ear. You can’t imagine how much blood there was Raul it was a river of blood.

Did you leave any fingerprints, blood trails, or DNA anywhere? I asked.

There was a solid pause, Well… he said When I came out of the freezer my shoes were full of blood I left a trail everywhere and now that I think of it when the manager locked himself inside the office he was starting to call the cops so I tried breaking the office window with the knife but I couldn’t break it because it had that wire in the middle of the glass, it was reinforced. I broke pieces off but got nowhere as I was doing that, I cut my arm on the window.

That’s not good Paul. I said. What went wrong with the manager? I asked Paul.

Well… Michael was supposed to have threatened him and gotten the money from him as I took care of Jake, we were going to kill the manager as well, but he ran inside the office and locked himself in there. Michael hit him with the shotgun butt on the side of the head before he locked himself in the office, I grabbed the shotgun, but Michael told me it didn’t work that’s why he couldn’t kill him. When I grabbed the shotgun myself and tried to pump it, it wouldn’t pump, the shotgun shell was accidently loaded backwards.

As I listened to him, I was in total disbelief, the whole time I thought to myself over and over how can I get him out of this so I told him the truth, Paul I’m gonna be honest with you, there’s no way out! Theirs DNA in the window and theirs a witnessed that use to work with you that can identify you, there’s no way out, my best advice is run to Mexico and have some fun until they capture you.

There was no answer from Paul. We were still driving north on Highway 101. We were approaching the city of Gilroy which was about twenty-five minutes north of Prunedale and we decided to stop at my dad’s truck yard where he kept his big rigs. My father was the owner of a small trucking company called Sandoval Brothers Trucking, Gilroy was where he kept his trucks parked, I thought it would be a good idea to stop and talk things over. We got to the yard, parked, sat in the car panicked and worried. Finally, Paul speaks and says, I’m not running! with an aggressive attitude.

I tell him, It’s your best move.

Paul answers the same, I’m not running! while he shook his head left and right, confident about the decision he had just made.

Let’s just go back to Michael’s house and think this over more carefully. I told Paul.

Yeah, that’s a good idea. Replied Paul.

From my dad’s yard we headed back south on Highway 101. There was nothing but silence. We arrived at Michael’s house a small trailer on the side of Michael’s parents’ house, that’s where Michael would regularly sleep. We parked the car in front of his trailer, in front was an old fire pit that was out, four chairs surrounded the fire pit. Large tree surrounded the whole area it was dark and quiet. Paul immediately got out of the car and told me, Get out of the car.

I got out. He got both the car mats out in a hurry and walked up a hill and buried them with a shovel. He went straight back to the trunk of his car grabbed a flashlight and some spray with bleach. He hands me the flashlight and tells me, Hold this... point it right here. He asked me to point it inside the front passenger seat and door handle.

I pointed were he told me to.

He started to clean the car in a hurried manner. Shine the light over here, now here. That’s all I would hear him say.

After Paul finished cleaning the car, we stood outside and spoke a little bit and came up with the conclusion that our alibi was going to be that we were at the party the whole time and that was it.

That night me and Michael slept inside his trailer and Paul slept alone in his car. The next morning, I hear a knock on the trailer’s door, it was Paul he walked inside the small trailer and says, We gotta go Raul.

We left Michael in his trailer and me and Paul got inside his white Toyota Camry and left in a calm matter. He was taking me home in his car when his cell phone rang. It was Paul’s mom, Hi Paul, everything alright?

Yes Paul answered.

I made you some pancakes his mom tells Paul, and in a cautious and uncertain voice she asks him, Sooo… where were you last night?

I was at work all last night mom I just got off and I’ll be there in just a couple of minutes. Paul answered.

Ok son I be home waiting for you. Paul’s mom said and they both hung up the phone. A minute passed and Paul’s cell phone rang again. Paul picked it up, Hello.

With a very serious tone of voice and no more games attitude Paul’s mom tells him, Paul, there’s four officers waiting for you here at the house. Are you sure everything is fine!?

Without the slightest hesitation Paul answers, Yes mom, everything is fine I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.

We arrive at my house and right before I got off Paul looks at me and says, Remember we were at the party the whole time!

Yeah, I got it. I replied as I nodded