A San Martin man stabbed multiple times in the neck Wednesday
night was released Friday afternoon from Santa Teresa Hospital in
San Jose.
A San Martin man stabbed multiple times in the neck Wednesday night was released Friday afternoon from Santa Teresa Hospital in San Jose.
A motive for the incident, which left Scott Bargar, 24, in critical condition and unconscious for more than a day, remains unclear, Morgan Hill Police Lt. Terry Booten said Friday.
While investigators have interviewed Bargar, Booten declined to offer details about his statement, saying the case remains under investigation.
“The investigation is not complete,” Booten said. “We are still working on finding out exactly what transpired Wednesday.”
Also Friday, one suspect in the case was released from County Jail and another was released after posting $50,000 bail. Monique Zamaripa, 22, was released after posting bail. Cassandra Arciniega, 20, was released Friday pending completion of the investigation and formal filing of charges.
Anthony Aguilera, 20, remains jailed on prior warrants and a parole violation hold. He was initially arrested on suspicion of stabbing Bargar at a Morgan Hill motel.
Aguilera was captured following a foot pursuit and hours-long search Wednesday night.
Investigators have a “a few loose ends” to tie up before the case can be submitted to the District Attorney’s office for filing of charges, Booten said.
“This case was spread over the South County, with three agencies involved,” she said. “The victim had been unconscious and obviously unable to help in the investigation.”
State law requires that a suspect in a criminal case be arraigned and told of the formal charges in court within 72 hours of arrest.
The incident began Wednesday afternoon in a room at the Extended Stay America motel on Jarvis Drive hotel that was rented by Arciniega.
Morgan Hill police received a call from a motel staff member at 4:45pm, reporting a large amount of blood in one of the rooms, and a trail of blood leading from the room down the hallway to the parking lot, said Morgan Hill Lt. Joe Sampson.
While officers were at the scene, Sampson said San Jose police called to report a stabbing victim – Bargar – at Santa Teresa who was stabbed.
Detectives spoke with Bargar’s friend, Andrew Aitke, 24, of Morgan Hill, at the hospital, Sampson said. Aitke told them Bargar had driven to his house and asked for help. Aitke then got into Bargar’s car and drove him to the hospital.
Later Wednesday, MHPD received a call from Gilroy police about another stabbing victim, this one at Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy. The victim had given a false name but was later identified as Aguilera, according to Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal.
MHPD detectives and investigators from the District Attorney’s office went to Saint Louise to talk to Aguilera, but he fled on foot before being treated for his injuries apparently suffered in the incident. Aguilera’s injuries were not life-threatening, Sampson said, “more in the nature of superficial cuts.”
Aguilera jumped into a waiting vehicle outside Saint Louise Hospital on No Name Uno in Gilroy, driven by Zamaripa. The car drove south into Gilroy at 8:52pm as MHPD officers chased and contacted Gilroy police for assistance as they entered the east side of the city. The five-minute pursuit circled around the area of Murray Avenue and Chestnut Street – near South Valley Middle School – and reached speeds up to 60 mph.
Zamaripa’s car was stopped in a driveway near a townhouse complex on Chestnut Street. She was arrested on suspicion of felony harboring or aiding a felon and felony reckless driving.
Aguilera – who by this time was known to police as a suspect in two unrelated assaults with a deadly weapon and another attempted murder – jumped a nearby fence and fled on foot.
“Because when you’re talking about three violent offenses, and all relatively recently, this is someone we want to get,” Svardal said.
Police suspect Aguilera of being involved in the stabbing of a pedestrian on Princevalle Street on Nov. 7; the shooting of a 22-year-old man in his car on Church Street on Oct. 23; and a stabbing at Tenth and Rosanna streets in July.
From about 9:30pm to 1am, officers with GPD’s Special Operations Group, its SWAT equivalent, searched the rooms and backyards of the apartments and town homes occupying a block of the south side of Chestnut Street in Gilroy, adjacent to San Ysidro Park.
Svardal said police developed information that Aguilera was in an apartment at 7720 Chestnut Ave. Police placed a phone call into the home and asked Aguilera to surrender, which he did at 1:07am.
No weapons or drugs or drug paraphernalia were found in the motel room, Sampson said.
