An early-afternoon police chase in Morgan Hill Wednesday led to
the confiscation of several ounces of marijuana and a possible link
to stolen goods.
An early-afternoon police chase in Morgan Hill Wednesday led to the confiscation of several ounces of marijuana and a possible link to stolen goods.
Brendan Gorshe, 25, of Morgan Hill, was arrested and taken to county jail on charges of evading police and possession of marijuana for sale.
Morgan Hill Police officers were conducting a probation search at a residence on West Main Avenue when they spotted a full-size Ford pickup with two males driving slowly by, “in a suspicious manner,” MHPD Sgt. Rick Rodriguez said Wednesday afternoon.
The license plate number was reported as stolen.
Officers attempted to stop the truck, but the suspects fled, leading the officers on a chase through the area, on DeWitt Avenue and Peak Avenue, near City Hall, ending up in residential alleys off DeWitt.
“It’s a tight area,” Rodriguez said. “They were obviously trying to lose the officers.”
When officers stopped the vehicle, shortly before 1pm, officers repeated the plate number, discovering that one of the numbers originally given to dispatchers was incorrect; the vehicle was not stolen.
“But they ran anyway,” Rodriguez said.
Four baggies each containing approximately one ounce of marijuana, with a street value totaling roughly $800, Rodriguez said narcotics officers estimated, were found in the backpack. Rodriguez said the narcotics officers gave the $200 per ounce estimate because of the quality of the marijuana.
No one was injured in the chase, Rodriguez said, and the suspects were arrested without incident. Gorshe, the driver of the truck, was taken to county jail. A male passenger, Brian Warden, 34, of San Martin, was cited on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance.
Police Chief Bruce Cumming said Wednesday evening there was another twist to the case: a “table full of stolen goods.”
Cumming said the items were not in the truck, but in the residence where officers conducted the probation search. The items include a variety of credit cards, a bicycle, video games, jewelry, computers and other items possibly taken in home burglaries or from businesses, MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson said Thursday afternoon.
“They found a house full of stolen property,” Sampson said of the residence at 645 W. Main Ave. where Wednesday’s chase began. “This will likely allow us to clear six or seven burglary cases. For example, the bicycle was from a a case a year ago. Typically in these kind of cases, when you hit, you hit big, you find property from multiple thefts and burglaries. This is a huge amount of property.”
The stolen goods were recovered after surveillance by MHPD detectives; two suspects were arrested.
Adrian Esparza, 27, of Morgan Hill was taken to county jail charged with possession of stolen property, burglary and fraud.
Esparza allegedly used a stolen credit card to buy merchandise from Mervyn’s. Detectives investigating the incident also noted a male suspect with Esparza at the time of the transaction, Gerald Reynolds, 26, the occupant of the Main Aveue residence where MHPD officers found the stolen items.
“He was a suspect in cahoots, so to speak, with Esparza,” Sampson said. “We did not know who she was at the time, although (Reynolds) was known to us.”
Reynolds was taken to county jail and booked on charges of possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit burglary. Sampson said police are investigating possible links between Gorshe, Esparza and Reynolds.
