A would-be carjacker and forger was taken into custody Wednesday
afternoon after a chase on foot through parking lots and across a
busy four-lane road.
A would-be carjacker and forger was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after a chase on foot through parking lots and across a busy four-lane road.
Steven Shores, 38, of Gilroy, was taken to County Jail on charges of attempted carjacking, check fraud, attempting to use a false ID, resisting arrest and destruction of evidence.
Morgan Hill Police received a call from Bank of the West in Tennant Station shopping center at 1:06pm reporting someone was trying to use false identification to cash a government check, according to Sgt. David Myers.
When the officer arrived on the scene, Shores was still inside the bank, but he was near the front door of the band, “getting antsy,” Myers said.
The officer approached Shores and asked him to sit down with him so they could “straighten things out.” As Shores started to sit down, he reached into the waistband of his pants under his shirt, as if to pull out a weapon, and the officer sprayed Shores with pepper spray in his face and upper torso.
There was no visible effect from the spray, police said. Shores then ran out of the bank and through the parking lot and across Monterey Road to the Vineyard Town Center parking lot.
“The officer chased him through the McDonald’s parking lot, and as he was approaching Erik’s Deli, Shores spotted a female in a van, moving slowly,” said Myers.
Shores yelled to the woman to stop her vehicle, then grabbed the door handle, opened the driver’s door and attempted to pull her out. He was unable to pull her out because she had a seatbelt on, and by that time the officer caught up with him and tried to hit Shores with his baton. The woman was shaken up, but uninjured.
Pulling away from the van and the MHPD officer, Shores fled a short distance before a bystander blocked his way. As Shores raised his fist to strike the man, police reported, the officer was able to stop Shores, hitting him three times in the upper thigh with his baton before he complied with the officer’s orders.
Additional officers arrived on the scene, and Shores was taken into custody without further incident. He suffered minor bumps and bruises. The officer and the male witness were not injured.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@**************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106 Ext. 202
