Plea continued in attempted cop shooting
GILROY
A man accused of trying to kill a police officer was whisked into and out of court Friday morning for a continuance of his case.
Pete Joseph Valdez III appeared for only a few minutes at the San Martin Courthouse and delayed entering a plea for two weeks. The 28-year-old was denied bail last week and faces felony charges of attempted murder of a police officer, assault of a police officer with a firearm, being a felon in possession of a gun, and delaying or resisting a police officer. If convicted of these charges Valdez would spend the rest of his life in prison.
About 3 a.m. Nov. 15, Gilroy police officer John Ballard noticed Valdez biking east on West Eighth Street without a headlight and on the wrong side of the road, police said. When Ballard tried to stop Valdez, he took off.
Ballard caught up with Valdez – who has ten prior convictions including three felony convictions for a strong-arm robbery – a few blocks later and a foot chase ensued, police said. During the pursuit, Valdez punched and kicked the officer, then pulled a .25-caliber semiautomatic handgun loaded with seven hollow-point bullets. Valdez aimed the gun at Ballard’s face and repeatedly pulled the trigger, but the gun jammed and did not fire.
Stalker case continued
GILROY
A man charged with following a 10-year-old and a 15-year-old on two separate occasions had his case continued Thursday afternoon.
Jose David Gonzalez-Raygoza, 26, appeared at the San Martin Courthouse, but did not enter a plea because he wants a lawyer first. Court documents reveal that he confessed to following a 15-year-old girl, another girl near Glen View Elementary School that could have been a 10-year-old and two other young girls, all on four separate occasions.
Gonzalez-Raygoza was arrested Nov. 9 after he pulled up next to a 15-year-old about 3 p.m. and told her to get into his white truck, but the girl ran home instead, police said. He appeared near the victim three more times, including once while the police were interviewing her.
If convicted on both charges, he could spend two years in jail and be fined $10,000.
Woman attacked with screwdriver
GILROY
A man stabbed a woman several times with a screwdriver-like object after she tried to break up with him, police said.
On Nov. 25, Rosalino Zaquero-Crisostomo, 31, and his similarly aged girlfriend were in his apartment at 142 First St. when she told him she wanted to end the relationship, police said. A verbal fight ensued, during which he grabbed something that the woman said looked like a screwdriver and jammed it into her abdomen and neck several times.
During the attack, the woman “faked him into believing the relationship could continue,” said Detective Stan Devlin, who was assigned to the case.
Using this pretense, she got him to take her to a nearby hospital, where she was treated for her wounds and released the same day, he said.
However, on the way to the hospital, Zaquero-Crisostomo made her agree to lie about how she got the wounds, Devlin said. At the hospital, the pair said she was attacked in an attempted residential burglary. In addition, Zaquero-Crisostomo did not leave her side to allow her to time to tell a different story.
The pair kept up this charade Monday morning, when they went to the police station and spoke to officers about the residential burglary story.
But when he left her alone Monday morning, “that’s when she came in and gave up the story about the domestic violence,” Devlin said.
Police set up a sting operation at Zaquero-Crisostomo’s house while he was at work in Palo Alto and arrested him without incident when he came home that night for attempted murder and domestic battery, he said. The woman was also granted an emergency protective order against Zaquero-Crisostomo.
Two Morgan Hill cops receive training
MORGAN HILL
Cruising through the dark neighborhood, the thieves go about their work methodically, smashing car windows, quickly extracting a stereo, a GPS system, sometimes getting lucky with a laptop or a purse.
Then the gang speeds onto Highway 101 and leaves town, headed for another South County community.
Such scenario is not uncommon, according to local law enforcement officials and a recent training course in Southern California helped them improve policing techniques to apprehend the bad guys.
Morgan Hill police Det. Rod Krewson and Sgt. Jerry Neumayer attended the training.
Krewson, a detective in the department’s Special Operations unit, focuses on property crimes. Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing said the training taught the officers how to develop valuable investigations techniques to solve widespread property crimes such as serial auto burglaries.
Krewson’s participation in the program was partially funded by a $2,000 grant from Target stores.
“I was really impressed with the training,” he said.
There were several large law enforcement agencies participating, Krewson said, including the San Francisco Police Department.
Swing said a crime analyst from Gilroy attended the training as well and officers from both departments are considering more ways to work together to tackle crime in the South County area.
County warrant release program
Santa Clara County
Through the month of December, law enforcement agencies in Santa Clara County will be clearing misdemeanor warrants in honor of the holiday season.
Anyone who has a non-violent misdemeanor criminal or traffic warrant is eligible to receive a citation in lieu of a stay in the Santa Clara County Jail. People with outstanding misdemeanor warrants can go to their local police station or to a Sheriff’s Office station, surrender and be released instead of going to jail.
A citation will be issued, and individuals must appear in court after the holiday season is over.
Warrants for firearms, resisting arrest, domestic violence or giving false information to a peace officer are not eligible for this program.
Last year, 299 people participated in the release program.
The Morgan Hill police station is located at 16200 Vineyard Boulevard; the Sheriff’s Office South County sub-station is located at 80 W. Highland Ave. in San Martin.
Anyone with questions about the program is asked to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 408-808-4717.
Controlled burn
Santa Clara County
Cal Fire conducted a controlled burn on the hillsides near Mount Hamilton Wednesday. The column of brown smoke rising east of the city could be seen from as far away as San Francisco, prompting many calls to local law enforcement and fire agencies. More than 700 acres were burned in an attempt to reduce the dry brush in the area.
Fire burns roof in Holiday Lake Estates
Morgan Hill
A fire thought to be started by a spark from the home’s chimney burned the roof of a house on Holiday Drive Thursday evening, causing approximately $10,000 in damage to the home and $1,000 in content loss, according to Santa Clara County Fire Department officials. No one was injured in the blaze, which began shortly before 8 p.m.
Trash burns in transfer station fire
San Martin
An early morning fire at the trash transfer station in San Martin Friday was contained quickly, with a dozen engines on the scene, according to Fire Prevention Specialist Chris Morgan of Cal Fire. No one was injured, but the building on the site was slightly damaged. Morgan said Friday afternoon the cause of the fire had not yet been determined.
Where are you going with my TV?
Morgan Hill
Three youths were in the middle of trying to steal a television from a house near the intersection of Sycamore and Oak Glen avenues in Morgan Hill when the homeowners found them, about 3:15 p.m. Nov. 16. The three suspects had the television unhooked and moved out of the living room, but took off when confronted, also taking a $15 baseball cap. However, sheriff’s deputies caught up to all three suspects five minutes later and arrested them for burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and probation violation.
The three youths arrested were Vicente Cardenas Crisostomo, 25 of San Jose; Katherine Hernandez, 28, of San Jose; and Jose Guadalupe Rodriguez, 53, address unknown.
