When the case seemed cold, homicide detectives in the Berkeley Police Department received an unexpected tip about the 2006 shooting death of Wayne Drummond, Jr. As a result, two men were arrested.

Police have charged Berkeley resident Brandon Crowder, 20, and Richmond resident Nicholas Beaudreaux, 22, with the murder of 23-year-old Drummond, who died on the steps of UC Berkeley sorority, said Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss.

Beaudreaux was a new friend of Crowder on the night of the shooting, police said, while Drummond and Crowder had been friends before the shooting and played basketball together at the Recreational Sports Facility located on the UC Berkeley campus.

“On occasion they would go out at night, sometimes they would hang out on Telegraph,” Kumiss said. “They spent a fair amount of time together.”

The three got into an argument outside Blakes on Telegraph Avenue early in the morning on Sept. 4, 2006, police said.

“We don’t know specifically what the original argument was about except that it had to do with a pattern of disrespect,” said Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. “Over time it evolved that Drummond just plan didn’t like Crowder, didn’t like the way he carried himself.”

After the argument outside Blakes, the three men moved east on Durant Avenue and Crowder allegedly directed Beaudreaux to shoot Drummond, according to police.

Drummond, who may have attributed his stomach pain to drinking too much, was taken by his friends to Alpha Omicron Pi sorority where he knew the handyman. He died outside the sorority around 2:30 am.

Although detectives suspected Crowder from the beginning, there were no witnesses to the shooting and the case was suspended in October 2006.

However, on the evening of Dec. 17, 2007, police received more information when Crowder allegedly got into a name-calling fight with a basketball player in the RSF.

“He got on the phone in front of (the player) and said, ‘Bring on the heat, I’ve got someone for you to take care of,’” Kusmiss said.

After Crowder allegedly threatened the basketball player, another individual warned the player that Crowder’s threats could be deadly.

“Another basketball player came up to the victim and said, ‘Hey, watch out for this guy. Last time he threatened someone they ended up dead,’” Kusmiss said.

The player reported the threat to the UCPD. After using a search warrant to seize a list of the phone calls made from Crowder’s phone, the UCPD determined that he was the suspect of criminal threat, said UCPD Assistant Chief Mitch Celaya.

After an initial investigation, UCPD Detective Jason Collom forwarded the case to the homicide division of the Berkeley Police Department.

Berkeley police then issued a $50,000 arrest warrant for Crowder for the threats that were made in the RSF, which led to his Feb. 13 arrest. The arrest became the “catalyst” for solving the murder of Drummond, Kusmiss said.

Police questioned Crowder after he was arrested for making the threats. Once he was in police custody, Crowder identified Beaudreaux as the person who shot Drummond, Kusmiss said.

Beaudreaux was arrested for the murder of Drummond on Feb. 15 in the City of San Pablo. Both suspects are currently being held at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin.

“It’s not uncommon that a suspect will be arrested for a particular crime and say ‘I have information for another case,’” Kusmiss said. “Maybe he thought he would benefit.”

Despite having no witnesses of the actual shooting, witnesses of the argument outside the restaurant and witnesses of the aftermath of the shooting were used to verify Crowder’s claims.

“It’s based on witness accounts, and sometimes witness accounts will give you a piece of the puzzle and then the whole puzzle comes together when you have an arrest and an interview,” Kusmiss said.