Crimes in Gilroy could be retaliatory aimed at police

Gilory – At least three attempted robberies have struck downtown
since Oct. 10 when alleged gang members vandalized the inside of a
doctor’s office on Eigleberry Street scrawling messages that
included the threat of armed robberies ahead. Graffiti messages
written on the walls of the office boasted they would target other
Gilroy businesses and disparaged the Gilroy Police Department.
Gilroy – At least three attempted robberies have struck downtown since Oct. 10 when alleged gang members vandalized the inside of a doctor’s office on Eigleberry Street scrawling messages that included the threat of armed robberies ahead. Graffiti messages written on the walls of the office boasted they would target other Gilroy businesses and disparaged the Gilroy Police Department.

Richard Harper, an opthamologist, characterized the messages left on the walls of his office by vandals as “pointed at the police.” The same vandals may be carrying out those threats following reports of two shop owners who were robbed last Tuesday and another shop owner who fired a .44 magnum on as many as five assailants and scared them away.

On Dec. 21, two shop owners, a husband and wife, were robbed at gunpoint after closing their store on Monterey Road for the night before 9 p.m., according to a GPD press release. Police have declined to identify the shop owners in the Dec. 21 robbery or the name of the store. A week prior to that three to five males, their faces in stocking caps attempted to rob Littlejohn’s Fine Jewelry.

The Gilroy Police Department say the two robberies and the vandalism at Dr. Richard Harper’s office near Fifth and Eigleberry streets are not related.

“The (newer) cases are not connected to the other robberies. The Southgate Court and Monterey robberies appeared to be significant, but they’re not related. The inscriptions of the suspects are completely different,” GPD Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said Monday.

Morgan Hill Police Department Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said MHPD is always in the loop with crimes affecting Gilroy, as is Gilroy with Morgan Hill. They two agencies keep one another abreast of the latest arrests or gang violence.

“When Gilroy heats up, it tends to affect us in some way or vice versa. But Gilroy has always typically been more active (with gang-related crimes). If they do believe it’s somehow going to affect us. They’re good about contacting us,” Neumayer said.

Since downtown Gilroy’s string of armed robberies, Morgan Hill hasn’t seen an increase in its city limits. However last month there was an increase in gang-related vandalism around town, in which two teens were arrested.

Warnings to police were scrawled on nearly every wall of Harper’s office, he said, revealing that an uptick in armed robberies was at least threatened.

The writings named specific Gilroy police officers and the vandals even listed which store they would break into and rob next. Police said the damage was done by local gang members, Harper said. 

“They were being spiteful toward the police. (The police) are trying to manage the gang issue,” Harper said.

In the Dec. 21 attack, two male assailants, one in his 20s and the other in his 30s, surrounded the victims and asked them for money. One suspect brandished a knife and held it directly at the man while the other suspect pointed a handgun at the woman. The suspects then took the man’s wallet and the woman’s purse before running away north on Monterey Road, police said.

No suspects have been apprehended.  

The attempted heist of jewels from Littlejohn’s dealer in the store’s parking lot petered out after Littlejohn was alerted by his jewel dealer to grab his gun.

The suspects backed their vehicle into his dealers’ vehicle about around 5 p.m. two weeks ago when Littlejohn said they shot the tire of his dealers’ car and “busted out” his car window. They attempted to open the trunk but were unsuccessful. Once they saw Littlejohn run out of his store with a .44 magnum in hand, “they were running like quail. Now, we’re out a tire, a window and the slug I put into their car. They drove away running into every curb,” Littlejohn said laughing. He said he’s only been robbed at gunpoint one other time many years ago.

On Fifth Street around the corner from Harper’s office, a waitress at Station 55 said that the restaurant had been broken into three times since October.

She said the same window on the west side of the building gets broken and someone runs in and “grabs whatever they can” she said Thursday. During the last robbery, thieves even carted off a keg of beer. A new security system has apparently been a deterrent recently, she said.

Mike Brownfield, who owns Vacuum Center in downtown, said he didn’t know who was robbed in the knifepoint-gunpoint incident Dec. 21, but it’s made him concerned at the lack of security, which he says is happening all over Gilroy not just in downtown.

“I would like to see security guards. If we can’t pay for more police, private security could be the answer. The more eyes that are out there, the less problems we’re going to have,” Brownfield said. He added surveillance cameras might be a good deterrent.

“These problems are in all towns. People hear about one or two crimes and it makes it seem like downtown is unsafe. That’s not the case. But the police are spending their time patrolling the (Gilroy Premium) Outlets, we need some presence here, too,” he said.

Bob Tapella, the owner of Garlic City Billiards on Monterey Street near Martin Avenue, had heard about the incidents at Dr. Harper’s, Littlejohn’s and the most recent strong-arm robbery.

“I’m a little more scared myself. I’m concerned. I’m going to get a gun to protect myself, it’s a good idea,” Tapella said.

Tapella said he believes crime in the area has been intensifying recently and the lack of police officers in the area is disturbing.

“Like 60 percent of downtown is empty. It’s kind of eerie out here. It’s a tough deal right now … some shady people walking around. We just gotta be more aware,” he said.

In a fourth robbery, though not of a business in downtown Gilroy, a man and his young two children went out to check their mailbox Dec. 21 when two Hispanic teen males approached them and demanded money at knifepoint. The attack took place in the evening in a residential neighborhood near 10th and Monterey streets.

One suspect held the knife and both suspects threatened to stab the man and his children if he didn’t hand over his money. One suspect then tried to stab the victim twice, but the victim kept himself and his children away from the attack, police reported.

A witness called police just before 5 p.m. and reported the attempted robbery. When police arrived, the two suspects fled on foot in a northeast direction. 

If anyone has information, they are asked to call the Gilroy Police Department at 846-0300.