Police Arrest Two Men Involved in Alleged Gang Fight
Morgan Hill – An alleged gang dispute Monday afternoon at Jasmine Square Apartments led to a fight between several Norteños and Sureños. Morgan Hill police officers responded to the scene and arrested two men.
“We always treat any fight with regard for officer safety, and when there are possible gang members involved, we make sure we have as many officers there as possible,” said Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
Francisco D. Mills, 22, of Morgan Hill, was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on an outstanding warrant. Pedro Rios, 23, of Gilroy was cited and released for resisting arrest.
Six other people were interviewed by officers in connection with the fight but were not arrested, Swing said.
“We haven’t had a lot of other gang activity lately,” Swing said. “I don’t see this as being retaliatory for any specific incident.”
Benefit Car Wash In Morgan Hill For Man Wounded in Iraq
Friends of a Morgan Hill family whose son was injured fighting in Iraq are hosting a benefit car wash starting at 8am, Feb. 3, at Napa Auto Parts at 17650 Monterey Road.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the family of David Shebib, a 22-year-old U.S. Army paratrooper who was injured by a roadside bomb Dec. 28 near Baghdad. Shebib, a 2002 graduate of Central Continuation High School in Morgan Hill, is recovering from broken limbs and shrapnel wounds at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., where family members say he is showing progress but will need months of treatment. The Army is paying for medical costs, but the family may incur additional travel costs for visitations.
“We just want to raise as much as we can to help them out,” said Gilroy resident Yolanda Vasquez, a friend of the family who is coordinating the event.
In addition to the car wash, a group of Hitachi lab employees who work with Shebib’s mom opened a memorial fund two weeks ago that has raised nearly $3,000. To donate to the fund, go to any Wells Fargo branch and ask the teller to look up the “David Shebib Benefit Fund” under their memorial fund list. If they have any problem, they can contact Jason Lekki, branch manager at the Wells Fargo Santa Teresa Branch.
City Denies Times’ Public Records Act Request
The City of Morgan Hill will not grant a request by the Morgan Hill Times for information about Morgan Hill Police Chief Bruce Cumming’s secretary Theresa Walker, who has been on leave since the summer. The Times had requested information about her leave because she is a public employee, but City Clerk Irma Torrez, in consultation with City Attorney Janet Kern, responded in a letter that Walker’s records would not be released.
“In this case, the request is for private individual performance and medical information for a person serving in a secretarial capacity,” Torrez wrote. “Such an individual fully and justifiably expects those matters to be confidential. The quality of performance of any one administrative staff member at the Morgan Hill Police Department will not prevent the Police Department from performing its mission.”
According to Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Association, government code section 6250-6270, better known as the California Public Records Act, gives guidelines for releasing public documents, including the personnel records of public employees.
“The Public Records Act governs how public officials have to respond to requests,” he said. “Presumably, any record or document that is created, maintained or held by a government agency is available to the public. However, this is overcome by a plethora of exemptions.”
