A local woman has been charged with felony harboring a fugitive
more than a year after she allegedly let her son, who was wanted as
a murder suspect, hide from police in her home.
Morgan Hill – A local woman has been charged with felony harboring a fugitive more than a year after she allegedly let her son, who was wanted as a murder suspect, hide from police in her home.
Soccoro Torres was released on bail after she was arrested on felony charges stemming from an incident that began on Sept. 15, 2005.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Danny Carr said the decision to file charges was delayed while her son’s murder case was getting underway. The preliminary hearing in the case was just completed, Carr said last week.
Jorge S. Torres of San Jose was arrested Sept. 16, 2005, after Morgan Hill Police Department SWAT members dragged him from the crawl space under his mother’s house.
MHPD Sgt. Rick Rodriguez and Cpl. Shane Palsgrove, now Sgt. Palsgrove, received the department’s first medals of bravery because of their actions that morning.
The incident began the night before, when MHPD Officer Kyle Christensen stopped a Dodge Intrepid for a red light violation. Torres gave Christensen false information while Christensen was talking with him, and as the questioning continued, Torres fled, running off through Paradise Park.
As officers hunted for Torres and continued investigating, they discovered hiss true identity and the fact that he was wanted for a possible gang-related murder that occurred in San Jose on May 5, 2003. He also had an outstanding FBI warrant for allegedly fleeing to Mexico after the murder.
The search for Torres centered in the Paradise/La Crosse area; his mother’s home was nearby. MHUSD SWAT members were called into action after neighboring homes were evacuated at approximately 4:30am. Those families that chose to stay in their homes were instructed to stay away from windows.
Torres was located in the crawl space under his mother’s home; she was allegedly uncooperative with officers and did not tell them her son was in the home.
“She was obviously trying to protect her son,” Carr said.
Soccoro Torres is scheduled for her next court appearance on June 26 at the South County Court in San Martin.
