Police led a day-long probation and parole sweep that resulted
in six arrests in South County, including one for a Utah man on an
arrest warrant from his home state and one for a man who had
throwing stars in his possession.
Police led a day-long probation and parole sweep that resulted in six arrests in South County, including one for a Utah man on an arrest warrant from his home state and one for a man who had throwing stars in his possession.
Authorities from the Gilroy and San Jose police departments and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office assisted Morgan Hill Police Department in the operation Saturday, which was a response to a series of Oct. 2 gang-related incidents that ended with the shooting death of Juan Arellano, Jr., Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said.
Some of those arrested Saturday were known gang members, though Neumayer did not specify which ones. Police do not suspect any of those arrested in the targeted search were involved in the Oct. 2 incidents.
The arrests resulted from a series of compliance checks on local residents who are on active probation or parole, Neumayer said. The homes and property of such subjects may be searched at any time by authorities to determine if they are following the terms of their court-ordered sentences.
In Morgan Hill, two young men were arrested in separate locations. About 7:45 p.m., Eduardo Ortiz, 20, was arrested at a home on Main Avenue on suspicion of violating parole after a search of his home revealed he was in possession of ammunition, Neumayer said. Ortiz is on parole for a previous assault with a deadly weapon conviction, and he was booked in Santa Clara County Jail Saturday.
A 17-year-old male on probation was arrested on Church Street about 8 p.m., after police also found ammunition in his possession, Neumayer said. The juvenile was cited and released to his family.
In San Martin, police arrested two people at a residence off Harding Avenue about 5 p.m. Saturday. A 17-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of an unspecified probation violation, and released to his parents later that night. Also arrested at that home was Gerardo Toro, 35, on a warrant for an unspecified charge out of Utah, his current state of residence, Neumayer said.
And two arrests were made following probation compliance checks in Gilroy, including that of Roberto Garcia, 20, who had throwing stars in his possession at a home on Sixth Street, Neumayer said. He was booked into county jail on suspicion of possession of unlawful weapons and a probation violation.
At a different, unspecified location in Gilroy, police also arrested a 16-year-old male on suspicion of a probation violation, the details of which Neumayer did not have at press time. He was arrested about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, and was later released to his family.
Meanwhile, at a community meeting Thursday night at P.A. Walsh Elementary School, Police Chief Bruce Cumming told attendees that the department regularly checks up on known criminals that are on probation or parole as a way to curb violence.
About 200 people attended Thursday’s meeting in the school’s auditorium, which is about four blocks south of the scene of Arellano’s death. The meeting was called by the city of Morgan Hill and moderated by Cumming and other MHPD officers. City officials called the meeting to let residents of the rattled neighborhoods surrounding the scene of the Oct. 2 killing know that police are working on the investigation of the incident, and to solicit their help in finding Arellano’s killers and to prevent further violence.
“We care deeply about this community and all of Morgan Hill,” Cumming said. “Solving these crimes is the primary concern of the police department.”
Cumming opened the meeting describing the attacks – the beating of a 16-year-old male near Main and Hale avenues, the stabbing of a 31-year-old Gilroy resident at Tennant Station, and Arellano’s homicide on Crest Avenue. Although gang activity is not new to Morgan Hill, the crimes followed a “pretty quiet” summer in Morgan Hill, Cumming said.
Bilingual MHPD officers translated remarks by Cumming and audience members for attendees who only spoke Spanish.
Police believe all the incidents of Oct. 2 were related to ongoing tensions between two rival gangs that are active in Morgan Hill. Plus, a series of similar violent incidents in Gilroy that followed Arellano’s death – including a non-fatal shooting and an assault on an individual with baseball bats and a knife – could be related to the same tensions, Cumming said Thursday. He said MHPD is working with Gilroy police in the investigation of those crimes.
Cumming urged people at the meeting to share any information they have about the crimes with police, and to call police any time they see suspicious or violent activity in the neighborhood.
“Crimes are solved when police and the community work together,” Cumming said. “This is your community and we need to stop gang violence in its tracks.”
Most of the two-hour meeting was devoted to questions and comments from the audience. Several parents asked police what kinds of intervention or prevention programs are offered in Morgan Hill to keep kids away from gangs.
Police responded that the department conducts a 14-week “parenting program,” which allows the parents of troubled or at-risk youth to gain advice and counseling on how to deal with their kids’ problems. At the same time, the program uses campus police officers and counselors to talk to the kids separately at school, away from the parents.
Police also participate in a federally funded program known as Gang Resistance Education and Training, which brings police into classrooms for lessons and presentations on how to identify and avoid gangs.
The MHPD works with Community Solutions to quickly reach at-risk, low-level youth offenders with counseling and contact with the parents through the Status Offenders Services program, instead of citing them for minor offenses and sluggishly processing them through the probation system, explained Cmdr. Joe Sampson.
One parent commented in Spanish that parents should be responsible for their kids by watching out for their safety and teaching them proper behavior. Drawing applause, she said the police should not be expected to act as parents to the community.
“You brought your children into the world, and you need to take care of them,” officer Carlos Guerrero translated to the parents.
Responding to an audience member asking why gang members from other communities such as Salinas are attracted to Morgan Hill to visit, Cumming said it could be because of “pressure” in Salinas, which is inundated with gangs and is “extraordinarily violent.”
But he added there has been gang activity in Morgan Hill for several years.
Jerrica Dexter, a Mt. Madonna YMCA director, said Morgan Hill neighborhoods should conduct similar community meetings frequently, and Cumming agreed.
“It’s too bad it took a tragedy to bring the community together like this,” Dexter said.
Anyone seeking more information about local youth intervention or gang prevention programs, may call the MHPD at 779-2101. Anyone with information about recent gang-related crimes may call the MHPD, or the anonymous tip line at 947-7867.
