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Stolen vehicleA thief or thieves stole a black 1994 Honda Accord from a residence on the 100 block of Mathilda Court, according to police reports. The crime was reported 5:11 p.m. Sept. 10.  A dark green 1997 Honda Civic was stolen from the area of the 18500 block of Butterfield Boulevard, police reported. The crime was reported 9:56 a.m. Sept. 10.Someone stole a white 2002 Chevrolet work van with a ladder on top from an unspecified location in Morgan Hill, police reported. The crime was reported 8:35 a.m. Sept. 3.DisturbanceAbout 10 people holding baseball bats threatened a young woman who allegedly owed them $20, according to police. The subjects, age 19 to 21, knocked on the victim’s door and hid in the bushes across the street. Police did not reveal the location of the incident. The crime was reported 8:56 p.m. Sept. 9.Petty theftThree suspects were arrested after trying to shoplift merchandise from Staples, 1023 Cochrane Road, police said. Store staff called police when the suspects were in the process of trying to hide merchandise in their clothing, in an apparent effort to steal the items. The suspected thieves tried to steal three pairs of headphones. Police arrived before the suspects were able to leave the parking lot. The crime was reported 11:20 a.m. Sept. 10.VandalismTwo model homes at a residential construction site were broken into, and the suspect or suspects broke the front doors in to gain entry, police reported. The crime was reported 2:17 p.m. Sept. 8.BurglaryConstruction containers at a site on the 18700 block of Madrone Parkway were broken into and vandalized, according to police reports. The crime was reported 11:05 a.m. Sept. 6.Auto burglaryA thief or thieves smashed a window on a silver Jeep Cherokee and stole a backpack with children’s clothing in it from the vehicle, according to police reports. Two suspects were allegedly seen driving away from the scene in a gold Lexus with tinted windows. The crime was reported 2:47 p.m. Sept. 2 on the 700 block of Cochrane Road.

Imagine standing a few feet from live, acoustic instruments and melodious human voices. How does it make you feel?

Three Santa Clara County Main Jail correctional officers were charged Sept. 8 with the murder of inmate Michael Tyree.The guards—identified as Matthew Farris, 27, Jereh Lubrin, 28, and Rafael Rodriguez, 27—are accused of beating inmate Tyree late last month so much that they caused massive and eventually fatal internal injuries, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s office.“These men violated the law, human dignity, and the job that they were sworn to do,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a press release. “They may have thought that their violence, enacted late at night in the obscurity of a jail cell and against a helpless and mentally ill inmate, was invisible. Today we see it for all of its brutality. Mr. Tyree was not invisible. His death was not invisible. We will see that there is justice.”The guards are also accused of felony assault under the color of authority for beating another inmate minutes before their alleged fatal assault on Tyree.In its complaint against the officers, the DA’s office claims at around 10:50 p.m. on Aug. 26, the three guards entered the cell of another inmate in the same “pod” as Tyree and physically assaulted him.According to the DA’s office, inmates reportedly heard the blows and Tyree screaming, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Stop.”According to the press release, a short time after allegedly assaulting the first inmate, the officers entered the cell of Tyree.The DA’s office alleges after the closed-door beating—which left Tyree with numerous injuries all over his body—inmates heard Tyree crying. Then they heard his body hit the floor.Later, according to the DA’s office, two correctional officers entered Tyree’s cell just after midnight to find Mr. Tyree dead on the floor, covered in his own waste. He was pronounced dead at 12:35 a.m. The County Medical Examiner estimated that his internal injuries to his liver and spleen were so severe that he died within minutes of the trauma.If convicted of the charges, the guards could face life in prison.“I appreciate the District Attorney’s decision to file murder charges against the three correctional deputies arrested for the murder of Michael Tyree,” Sheriff Laurie Smith said. “While no one can bring Michael back to his family, we can ensure that those responsible for his murder are brought to justice as swiftly as possible. The reprehensible actions of those accused of this cowardly act are not indicative of the values we expect from our correctional deputies. As the Sheriff, I will redouble my department’s efforts to root out any correctional staff that does not share and exhibit the high standards the public rightfully expects from us.”Tyree was in custody related to his probation for a misdemeanor drug possession that was being monitored in Santa Clara County Superior Court's mental health court, according to the DA’s release.He was also charged with petty theft.The sheriff’s office announced Sept. 4 that it will request funding for a modernized camera system in the Main Jail and Elmwood Jail facilities. The announcement was in response to the death of Tyree.“Expanding the number of cameras at each of our custodial facilities will improve the safety of inmates, visitors and correctional staff assigned to those facilities,” Sheriff Smith stated.  “This is a common sense improvement designed to increase our staff’s ability to monitor our jails and ensure stricter accountability for all personnel assigned to our facilities.”On Sept. 3, following the arrest of the correctional deputies on suspicion of the murder of Tyree, Smith and her top command staff met with community leaders from several organizations to provide them with a detailed briefing on the arrests and to listen to concerns and ideas as to how the sheriff’s department can continue to work collaboratively to address those concerns, according to sheriff’s Sgt. James Jensen.“We had a great discussion with the sheriff at yesterday’s community meeting. We look forward to continuing the conversation with the sheriff and working within the facilities,” said Reverend Jeff Moore, President San Jose-Silicon Valley NAACP.In attendance at the meeting with community leaders were representatives from the NAACP, Silicon Valley Debug, Jail Observer Program, Correctional institutions Chaplaincy, among others.Chaplin Evelyn Vigil from Correctional Institutions Chaplaincy said, “I am grateful for the sheriff’s swift and decisive action in this case and look forward to continuing our cooperative efforts to provide high-quality care to inmates and staff,” said Vigil.In addition to the proposal to expand and modernize the jail’s camera system, the sheriff’s office has proactively sought input from the FBI on its operations and will continue to review and improve its current policies, procedures and protocols for safely managing those in custody that must cope with mental illness.

One suspect is in custody and police are searching for a second after they say two men robbed a Morgan Hill video game store while holding customers, including a young child, hostage at gunpoint.The incident is the second armed robbery in Morgan Hill in less than a week, as police reported a similar crime at a local convenience store Sept. 2.About 10:50 a.m. Sept. 5, the two adults entered GameStop, located at 1057 Cochrane Road, with at least one firearm, according to Morgan Hill police. One of the suspects brandished the handgun and took two store employees and four customers hostage.The suspects robbed the hostages of their personal belongings and held them captive in a storage closet while they looted the store, police said. The robbers fled the scene in a vehicle that later seen by a Morgan Hill officer driving to the area of an apartment complex at 260 Berry Court.The suspect who was driving the vehicle attempted to evade police, then ran into the apartment building, according to police.The police department deployed the Morgan Hill/Gilroy Regional SWAT team to search for the suspect, who police believed to still be armed. After a 13-hour evacuation and search of the property, police requested the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Emergency Response Team to continue the search.The county’s SERT team found the suspect in one of the apartments about 10:30 a.m. Sept. 6, bringing the standoff to a peaceful resolution, police added.The second suspect is still on the run, authorities said. Police have not released the name of the suspect in custody because they do not want to risk compromising the ongoing the investigation.Also assisting in the investigation and arrest were the Gilroy Police Department, MHPD Volunteers and Community Emergency Response Team.The Sept. 5 incident at GameStop was the second recent armed robbery in Morgan Hill. About 12:41 a.m. Sept. 2, a black male adult entered the 7-Eleven store, 295 W. Main Ave., and brandished a small handgun toward the store clerk, according to police.The suspect told the victim to open the cash register, police said. The victim initially refused, and then the suspect punched him in the face and forced him to open the register.The suspect then removed the cash from the register and was last seen running toward Crest Avenue, according to police.The armed robber is still on the run, and police are asking the public for help finding him. The suspect is further described as about 6 feet tall, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a red billed hat and black pants.The victim was transported to Saint Louise Regional Hospital in Gilroy where he was treated for his injuries and later released.The Campbell Police Department reported a similar incident that occurred Aug. 31 about 11:37 p.m.During the Campbell case, two black men entered the Food Mart located at 100 W. Hamilton Avenue and demanded money from the clerk, according to police.The physical and clothing description of one of the suspects and the method of the crime were a near identical match to the Morgan Hill robbery, according to police.The San Jose Police Department also reported two robberies in which the suspects’ actions and description also resembled the Morgan Hill robbery; however, a direct link has not yet been made.Police did not say if they think the 7-Eleven robbery is related to the GameStop incident.Anyone with information about these crimes can call Morgan Hill police at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.