Cops say suspect, 0companion had drugs with them and were under
the influence at time of arrest, drug paraphernalia found
Morgan Hill – An alleged petty theft at the Blockbuster on East Dunne Avenue Thursday afternoon turned into multiple charges and a trip to the Santa Clara County Jail for a Gilroy man and a Salinas woman.
Lennie Carrillo, 46, who is on parole for theft with a prior conviction, was booked into county jail for alleged burglary, theft with a prior conviction, possession of burglary tools, suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, alleged possession of drug paraphernalia and parole violation, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. David Swing.
Vanessa Mondragon, 33, was also booked into county jail. She was charged with alleged possession of a controlled substance, suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, alleged possession of paraphernalia, giving false ID to police and resisting arrest.
Swing said the incident began with Blockbuster reporting the petty theft at approximately 2:10pm. A Blockbuster employee told police dispatchers the suspects had moved with their vehicle to the Burger King located near the Safeway grocery store.
When officers arrived, Swing said, they found the vehicle and Carrillo and Mondragon at the Shell gas station in the same shopping center at the corner of East Dunne Avenue and Walnut Grove Drive.
“When officer Steve Pennington contacted them, Ms. Mondragon became angry and was not cooperative,” Swing said.
While talking to them, Pennington saw a glass pipe, a type of pipe normally used for smoking methamphetamine, in the car near Carrillo, Swing said. When Carrillo stepped out of the car, Pennington found he had some wire cutters and a small boxcutter knife on him. Searching the seat Carrillo vacated, Pennington found the pipe allegedly containing methamphetamine residue, and Carrillo was arrested without incident for possession of paraphernalia.
Morgan Hill police officer Bill Norman searched the car, Swing said, and found another glass pipe wrapped in tissue and some clear plastic baggies containing crystals believed to be crystal meth. When Norman was arresting Mondragon on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance, she allegedly tried to pull away from him, yelling and screaming. Once she was handcuffed, Swing said, she had to be forced into the back of the patrol car.
Inside the car, Swing added, officers also found a replica handgun and photocopies of two drivers’ licenses. The owner of one of the licenses, when contacted, told police that an employee of a car dealership in Salinas with the last name of Mondragon made a copy of her license when she test drove a car from the dealership. The car dealership employee may be a brother or other relative of Vanessa Mondragon, Swing added, and the licenses may have been a part of a fraud or identity theft plan.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@mo*************.com.
