Outnumbered, officers keep suspected gang members calm while
waiting for backup
Morgan Hill – Officers were plunged into what could have been a dangerous situation early Sunday morning when they were called to a room at the Executive Inn on Condit Road responding to reports of several people fighting in the room.
MHPD Cmdr. Joe Sampson said officers could hear what sounded like a “big brouhaha” when they arrived outside the room.
“They banged on the door, and heard all kinds of voices yelling, women yelling, telling them to go away, that they couldn’t come in,” Sampson said.
The officers got a pass key and returned to the room, once again knocking on the door and telling the suspects to open up. No one complied, so officers used the pass key.
“When they opened the door, they were facing 11 gangsters,” Sampson said. “There was alcohol in the room, and several of the subjects were fighting.”
As the two officers entered the room, the seven males and four females in the room began yelling at them, Sampson said, saying the officers couldn’t enter the room.
Officer Kyle Christensen was trying to break up a fight, and a 16-year-old male from Gilroy was threatening him, then grabbed a shirt and threw it at Christensen to distract him, Sampson said. The teen then rushed Christensen, and Christensen shot him with a Taser in the chest.
“When he went down, the others in the room became even more agitated, saying ‘It’s not fair, you can’t do that,’ and acting as if they were going to go for the officers. The females were trying to hold back the males, while the officers were trying to deal with the guy on the floor. They called for backup at this point.”
Sampson said the third MHPD officer arrived and tried to handle the teen who had been tased, who was fighting, kicking and spitting. The other males began telling the officers they could overpower them, that they outnumbered the officers.
Officers then called for backup from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, and four deputies quickly responded.
“Once they saw all of the officers, the other males began to think about it, they settled down pretty fast,” Sampson said. “But the male who was tased, he told us later he didn’t think it was fair, and if he’d had a gun, he would have shot the officers.”
The teen was taken to Juvenile Hall for resisting arrest and threatening an officer. Sampson said he is a validated Sureño and described himself as an “active” gang member.
The adult who rented the room at the motel, Rudolfo Ibarra, 22, of Morgan Hill was arrested on suspicion of drunk and disorderly conduct.
