Trial set for defendants in Gilroy’s rare gang murder case
Attorneys have set a date for the trial of four young adults
POTW: Marlo
Marlo is a 3-month-old cat who is very playful, energetic, curious and good with other cats. She is one of several kittens available at the San Martin Animal Shelter. There are also more kittens available to foster. If you are interested, please call (408) 686-3900.
Police: Skateboarder injured in east Morgan Hill traffic accident
A Live Oak High School student suffered major injuries after he collided with a vehicle while riding a skateboard in east Morgan Hill the morning of June 10, according to police.About 8:15 a.m., the 15-year-old skateboarder was riding east on East Main Avenue toward Condit, according to Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Carlos Guerrero. As he skated downhill from the U.S. 101 overpass on East Main Avenue, he crashed into a vehicle that was traveling north on Condit Road through the intersection.The skater allegedly failed to stop at a red light on East Main Avenue, Guerrero said. Other vehicles at the intersection were stopped at the signal in both the eastbound and westbound lanes on East Main.Police added that witnesses said the teen was traveling “full speed” as he skated down the hill.The teen, who police declined to identify because he is a juvenile, was flown to San Jose Regional Medical Center with major injuries, Guerrero said. He underwent surgery, and Guerrero declined to comment further on his condition other than to clarify that the teen remains alive.The teen was not wearing a helmet at the time of the collision.The vehicle involved in the accident received significant damages, but the motorist was not injured.
Updated: Police to release details in slaying after Monday’s autopsy
Investigators believe David J. Quiroz killed Heather Alaina Carroll, a 25-year-old mother and wife, in the same residence where a standoff ensued Friday night in southeast Hollister.
Energy, innovation, consideration marks city employee
Being named Morgan Hill City Employee of the Year, Jay Jaso
Got a warrant? Take advantage of ‘Operation Second Chance’
Santa Clara County residents with warrants for their arrest will have the opportunity to spend the holidays with their families instead of in jail as local law enforcement agencies offer certain offenders a “second chance.”From Dec. 1 to Dec. 31, individuals with non-violent misdemeanor criminal and traffic warrants can receive a citation with a new court date instead of being booked into the County Jail, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office.The sheriff’s office as well as Morgan Hill and Gilroy police departments are participating in the warrant program, known as Operation Second Chance. Individuals can go to any law enforcement agency in the county to receive their warrant citation, which will require a “promise to appear” court date, authorities said.Operation Second Chance is directed toward most misdemeanor warrants, regardless of the bail amount, according to the press release. This includes warrants stamped “no cite and release” and “no bail.”The following warrants do not qualify for the program, according to the sheriff’s office:—Felony warrants—Any warrant involving violence (including all domestic violence warrants)—Any warrant involving a firearm—Any warrant involving resisting arrest—Any warrant involving giving false information to an officer.Individuals with these types of warrants are nonetheless encouraged to take this opportunity to turn themselves in so they can take care of their matter, authorities said.Over the past 10 years, more than 2,800 people have taken advantage of Operation Second Chance by self-surrendering, according to authorities.Anyone with questions about Operation Second Chance can contact the sheriff’s office at (408) 808-4717.Individuals eligible for Operation Second Chance can turn themselves in at the following South County locations, or any police or sheriff’s office throughout the county:—Sheriff’s Office South County Substation, 80 W. Highland Ave., San Martin—Gilroy Police Department, 7301 Hanna Street, Gilroy—Morgan Hill Police Department, 16200 Vineyard Blvd., Morgan Hill.
Morgan Hill suspect has history of illegal explosives
A Morgan Hill man arrested last week on suspicion of making explosives in his home has a history of bomb and drug related offenses, according to police reports and news archives.The police reports state that after initially denying that he was making explosives, Dennis Fritsinger later admitted to officers who responded to his home that he intentionally detonated a mixture of chemicals in his backyard.Fritsinger, 63, was arrested by Morgan Hill Police March 13 at his home on the 17700 block of McLaughlin Court, after his neighbors heard a series of explosions outside the residence over the previous days.On March 15, Fritsinger was charged at the South County Courthouse with one count of possession of a destructive device and one count of possession of materials with intent to make a destructive device or explosive, according to Santa Clara County Supervising Deputy District Attorney Vishal Bathija. Fritsinger’s next hearing is scheduled for 1:30pm March 23, when he is expected to enter a plea.Both charges are felonies, and his maximum sentence, if convicted, is four years, eight months in prison, according to Bathija. Fritsinger is being held at Santa Clara County Jail on $200,000 bail.According to sfgate.com, Fritsinger was convicted in 2000 of three counts of bomb possession, two counts of possessing assault rifles, three counts of possessing silencers, one count of manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing chemicals to make meth.Fritsinger was a resident of Cupertino when he was arrested for those crimes, according to sfgate, a website published by the San Francisco Chronicle.Morgan Hill Police reports of the incident, found in the court file, describe a few tense moments as the first responding officers were notified over the radio of Fritsinger’s criminal history just before they noticed test tubes, beakers and other suspicious chemistry-related materials in his garage.Officers initially responded to Fritsinger’s home after neighbors reported two explosions the afternoon and early evening of March 12. Police could not locate the source of the first explosion. But after a neighbor offered more details on the second explosion, about 6pm March 12, police pinpointed Fritsinger’s home as the source, according to the court file.One neighbor told MHPD dispatch over the phone that the 6pm explosion sent clumps of mud and other debris onto the neighbor’s next-door home and over the roof, according to the court file. The neighbor looked over the fence and saw a small crater in Fritsinger’s backyard with smoke coming out of it.Neighbors also phoned police that they had heard smaller explosions from Fritsinger’s property over the previous two weeks, according to the court file.When the first officer approached the home and asked Fritsinger about the previous explosions, he denied that any such explosions had occurred, according to the court file. The first responding officers noticed a workbench in his garage, where a “large white tube approximately eight inches in diameter, capped on both ends” was spinning on an unidentified machine. Officers also saw an “unknown substance” in a large glass beaker.Fritsinger initially told officers that the tube was a “tumbler” for polish, and that the chemicals were for refrigeration materials for his work. The court file lists Fritsinger’s profession as “self-employed.”After Fritsinger gave the officers verbal permission to search his home, police found chemicals on his kitchen island such as thermite and ammonium nitrate, the court file reads. The officers recognized these as potential bomb-making material. They also found a substance labeled “thermite ignition mix,” as well as aluminum powder, wires, electronic boards, metal pipes and a notepad with the names of chemicals listed on it.Fritsinger “then admitted to causing explosions in his backyard with thermite in a container mixed with ammonium nitrate,” according to the MHPD report contained in the court file.MHPD officers then acquired a search warrant and the Santa Clara County Bomb Squad returned to search the property March 13. Some neighboring homes on McLaughlin Court were evacuated on March 12 after the explosions were reported, and during the March 13 search.No injuries were reported due to the explosions outside his home, according to police.Fritsinger’s home is about one block east of Monterey Road just north of downtown. The Morgan Hill Pre-School Academy and Shadow Mountain Baptist School, among other commercial properties, are nearby. Britton Middle School is about two blocks away, on the west side of Monterey Road at West Central Avenue.








