A man was shot and a suspect, previously wanted on suspicion of attempted murder, was arrested after a late-night road rage incident in Morgan Hill Saturday, according to police.
Just after midnight April 1, two vehicles were reportedly involved in the road rage incident that began on Monterey Road just north of San Martin Avenue, according to a press release from Morgan Hill Police.
As the vehicles proceeded north on Monterey Road, the driver of one of the cars brandished a handgun at the two men in the other vehicle, police said. The suspect followed the victims as they turned from Monterey Road onto Vineyard Boulevard, toward La Crosse Drive.
The suspect came to a stop at the intersection of Vineyard and La Crosse. He exited his vehicle and fired one round from the handgun into the passenger’s side of the victims’ vehicle, according to police.
The victims’ vehicle made a U-turn at the intersection, and headed eastbound back toward Monterey Road, police said. The suspect continued firing toward the driver’s side of the vehicle. One of the rounds penetrated the driver’s side door and hit the driver in the lower left leg.
The victim drove to Safeway at Tennant Station, and called 911, according to authorities. He was transported to the hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries related to the gunshot wound. The passenger of the victim’s vehicle was uninjured.
Police set up a perimeter in the area of Vineyard and La Crosse, and the suspect’s vehicle was found a short distance away, the press release states. MHPD officers located the registered owner of the vehicle, from whom police learned that suspect Alexander Monzon, 19 of Soledad, was driving the car just before the shooting took place.
Police also learned that Monzon was wanted on a $4.9 million warrant for attempted murder out of Monterey County, authorities said.
MHPD requested assistance from Gilroy Police and the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. GPD responded with a tracking K9, while the sheriff’s office provided deputies and a helicopter to assist in the search, according to police.
After a “systematic search” spiraling out from where the suspect’s vehicle was located, police found Monzon hiding inside a residence on John Wilson Way, according to the MHPD press release.
Monzon was taken into custody without further incident and booked at the county jail for the warrant and on suspicion of the Morgan Hill shooting, police said.
Anyone with information about this incident can contact Det. Fernando Del Moral at (669) 253-4964 or the anonymous tip line (408) 947-STOP (7867).
