Morgan Hill Police arrested two men on suspicion of burglary and other charges during a curfew enacted in response to the ongoing Public Safety Power Shutoff, according to authorities.
About 11:57pm Oct. 9, a Morgan Hill Police patrol supervisor who was monitoring an area of town darkened by the power shutoff, located two men walking in an unlit residential neighborhood. The officer stopped and contacted the men.
As the officer was advising the subjects of the curfew, which took effect about 10:30pm when PG&E turned off power to areas of Morgan Hill, he noticed one of the men appeared to have small pieces of broken glass on his clothing, police said. A records check found that one subject had a warrant for his arrest, and the other was on searchable probation.
While contacting the men, officers also found burglary tools and property belonging to an unknown subject, according to police.
Officers searched the area and found two parked vehicles with broken windows, according to police. Officers contacted one of the vehicle’s owners and determined the property found on the two suspects on foot belonged to that victim, police said. The stolen property was eventually returned to the victim, and the suspects were arrested on suspicion of auto burglary, possession of burglary tools, probation violation and warrants.
The suspects are identified as Chris Gomez, 26, of Tracy, and Jason Gomez, 21, of San Jose. Both were booked at Santa Clara County Jail, police said.
The City of Morgan Hill announced earlier Oct. 9 that they would be enforcing a nighttime curfew in areas where PG&E turned off electricity for a scheduled Public Safety Power Shutoff.
“The ultimate goal of this curfew was to keep our community safe and deny people with bad intent the opportunity to victimize our residents during a power outage,” Morgan Hill Police said in a press release. “We appreciate the community support and the willingness to remain flexible during a statewide emergency.”
PG&E initiated the PSP throughout Northern and Central California due to forecasts of high winds and other increased fire risks in the region, according to utility company officials.
Anyone with information about the Oct. 9 arrests can call MHPD Sgt. Bill Norman at (669) 253-4982 or email [email protected].
I hope the Morgan Hill police and city council (who presumably approved this charade) are sued to hell and back over this ridiculous curfew nonsense. Just adding insult to the injury of the manufactured crisis created by PG&E.
@Watty Helms… people were free to walk in their immediate neighborhood, visit neighbors nearby, travel ANYWHERE by car. These people were in an area without light. There was no legitimate reason for these people to be in this area. If they lived in the neighborhood or were visiting someone in the neighborhood (which can be proven), they would have been allowed to continue walking. One was from the Central Valley, another from San Jose and they knew NOBODY who lived in the area where they were stopped.
Good work MHPD, I hope the theft can be charged as a Felony !
I agree with the curfew – there are always scumbags like these looking to take advantage of situations like this.