Danny Rios' Last Night Alive: Izzy Visits His Bar, Son Testifies About Being Shot In Gun Struggle

JOLIET, IL — Now 77 years old, Alfonso "Izzy" Izquierdo entered Judge Vincent Cornelius's courtroom as the Will County State's Attorney's Office first witness Wednesday for the Joliet first-degree murder trial of Patrick Gleason in the death of his longtime friend and bartender, Danny Rios.

He has owned Izzy's Bar the past 26 years. He bought the establishment on Joliet's Theodore Street after retiring from The Herald-News, where he worked for 39 years as a pressman in the printing facility.

"I used to bar hop a lot," Izzy told the courtroom. "I used to live on the east side."

Izquierdo testified he bought the bar in 1999 and called it Izzy's since everyone calls him by his nickname since they can't properly pronounce or spell Izquierdo.

"I pretty much am there every day, bookwork or meeting people," he told the jury.

As for Rios, "I only called him Danny," Izquierdo testified. "He was my bartender about two years. I grew up with him from the east side. Just a friend that I know for a long time. I wanted to establish a neighborhood bar. I just wanted all kinds of people to come, color, religion, it didn't matter."

Altogether, Izquierdo testified he had six employees when the March 9, 2018, shootings happened inside his bar. He operated three shifts during the day, and typically one bartender worked as the only employee during a typical shift.

Izzy told the jury he installed an elaborate video surveillance camera system that featured 16 cameras throughout his business, including the outside parking lots.

"It was for the safety of my bartenders and the safety of my patrons and the safety of are things in general."

March 8, 2018

On the night of his bartender's murder, Rios was not originally scheduled to work.

"He had filled in for someone else," Izquierdo testified.

Prosecutor James Long asked if patrons could smoke cigarettes inside his bar, back in 2018.

"No. Not at all," Izquierdo said. "No smoking in my bar."

Izquierdo recalled that Rios arrived around 7 p.m. for a shift change. Izquierdo and his wife, Rose, remained seated at the bar, having a couple Miller Lite beers and mingling with patrons until around 8 or 8:30 p.m.

"We lean moderate because we have to drive home," Izquierdo testified.

By that time, Izquierdo's son, Thomas, showed up, and he was playing the video slot machines.

Prosecutor Long wondered if there was any trouble inside the bar prior to his leaving.

"No problems when we left," Izzy testified.

When asked if his son, Thomas, was fine physically, Izquierdo testified, "yes."

Long also asked if he kept any guns behind the bar. "No," Izquierdo answered. "Panic alarm, yes."

Back at his home in Crest Hill, Izquierdo and his wife were asleep when he was awakened by a frantic middle of the night phone call from one of his regular customers.

"They told me something happened at my bar. I got up and went there right away," the bar owner told the jury.

After he returned to 507 Theodore Street, Long asked Izquierdo what he saw.

"All kinds of ambulance and police. They would not let me go in."

What about his son, Thomas, Long asked.

"I saw him at the hospital. I believe it was St. Joe's. I believe they transferred him to Loyola. There was surgery involved. He was not awake."

Izquierdo was asked about how many regulars bar patrons he had back in 2018. "I pretty much had the same regulars, maybe around 30," Izzy testified.

The final witness on Wednesday, Thomas Izquierdo, will also be back on the witness stand on Thursday morning when the trial resumes.

Now 34 years old, Thomas testified he graduated from Plainfield Central and served for more than five years in the Army.

On the night of March 8, 2018, Thomas estimated he arrived at his parents' bar by 8:45 p.m. and he stayed there the rest of the night, mainly playing the video slot machines off in the corner.

Around 1 a.m., Thomas heard a loud bang. He did not see Rios get shot, but moments later he saw Gleason wearing jeans, a jacket "and a mask on," he testified.

"I turned around to see what the commotion was, and I stood up. I went to shove him to throw him off balance," Thomas testified. "I saw the shooter and Artis (Henderson) going back and forth between the table.

"For a few seconds, we were struggling back and forth, and I was shot," Thomas testified.

Despite being shot in the side, the bar owner's son managed to walk outside the bar and call 911.

He spent about two weeks in the hospital recovering from his surgeries.

Thomas was asked what he remembered about being shot.

"Pain and burning from my side here," he said, pointing to his right hip area.

"At any point did you touch the trigger of that gun?" prosecutor Adam Capelli asked.

"No," Thomas replied.

When Izzy, the owner, was on the stand, Long asked if he recognized Gleason.

"Was he a regular at your bar?"

"No."

"Did you know a person by the name Patrick Gleason?"

"No."

Joliet Patch Wednesday morning trial coverage:

Izzy's Bar Patron Wrestled Gun Away From Masked Man After Danny Rios' Murder: Witness