Two suspects in a rash of auto burglaries and auto thefts are
still at large after a high speed pursuit in north Morgan Hill
early Wednesday morning, according to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr.
David Swing.
Morgan Hill – Two suspects in a rash of auto burglaries and auto thefts are still at large after a high speed pursuit in north Morgan Hill early Wednesday morning, according to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. David Swing.
The city has experienced an increase in overnight thefts from vehicles and stolen vehicles in the past several weeks, and officers may have interrupted two suspects who could be responsible for the spike.
The incident began at approximately 2:15am as Morgan Hill Police officers responded to a call from a resident of the Mission Ranch neighborhood near Cochrane Road and Mission View. Swing said the resident reported two suspicious people looking into vehicles in the area.
When officers arrived in the area, they found a Honda Accord recently stolen from a residence. The Accord was parked in the DePaul Health Center parking lot.
As the officers were looking for the owner of the vehicle, Swing said, they heard a car alarm nearby and saw a Chevy truck leaving the area. The truck had also been stolen, Swing said.
Officers pulled over the truck, but then the truck sped away on Cochrane Road with police in pursuit.
As the suspects reached the intersection of Cochrane Road and Monterey Road, they sped through the light and into the parking lot of the AM/PM store and crashed into a tree. The truck didn’t stop, however, but crossed the railroad tracks just west of the parking lot, becoming airborne as it hit the rise of the tracks. An oncoming freight train narrowly missed the truck, which then plowed through an iron fence and landed on Sanchez Avenue at Old Monterey Road.
Swing said the suspects abandoned the truck when it landed, but the truck continued forward, crashing into a parked car on Sanchez Avenue.
Officers were stranded on the east side of the railroad tracks, waiting for the train to pass.
With the help of Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies and California Highway Patrol officers, Morgan Hill police officers set up a perimeter, but the suspects had escaped.
Swing said stolen property was recovered from the vehicles, and the department will be working on returning the items to their owners. The registered owners of the stolen vehicles have been notified, he said. Surprisingly, the truck – a full-sized four-wheel-drive Chevy – was not badly damaged.
