Los Gatos and Morgan Hill police officers find device in home
where suspect believed to have been involved in burglaries
Morgan Hill – A hand grenade, fortunately inactive, was found in a residence on Keith Way Thursday morning during a probation search by Los Gatos police, assisted by Morgan Hill officers.
The house where the grenade was found, as well as the house next door, was evacuated. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad was called to determine whether the device was active, said Morgan Hill police Cmdr. David Swing.
The device was determined to be an actual grenade, Swing said, but it was inactive.
Los Gatos police Det. Sgt. Mike Barbieri said officers were looking for evidence that Manuel Avena, Jr., 47, who lives in the residence where the grenade was found, may have been involved in several burglaries.
“We’ve had a series of residential burglaries in Los Gatos, and there was some indication that this individual could be involved,” he said.
Because Avena is on probation, his residence can be searched without a warrant, so Barbieri and other LGPD officers, assisted by MHPD officers, searched Avena’s home Thursday morning. Barbieri said officers found “potential stolen property,” and Avena was arrested for probation violation and alleged possession of stolen property.
“We’re seeing throughout the county these residential burglaries, identity theft, petty theft, auto burglaries, and there’s one common denominator, meth use,” Barbieri said. “These investigations take us all over the county, you’ll see that with other agencies as well. All these kinds of crimes are usually tied together.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at
md****@*************es.com.
