Juan Miguel Perez charged in 2000 assault
San Martin – Time was not on his side after all. After spending nearly six years on the lam, Juan Miguel Perez appeared in Santa Clara County Superior Courthouse Thursday morning on two separate assault with a deadly weapon charges.
According to the prosecution, Perez, 31, is a Sureño gang member and was going to be deported late last year when Arizona police discovered he had a California warrant for his arrest.
Perez is accused of assaulting a Gilroy man with a beer bottle who was trying to purchase bread from a street vender, and firing a gun at a car that struck an innocent resident in his home. Both incidents occurred the night of March 29, 2000. Police believe one of the bullets strayed and hit the victim while he was resting in his living room at 7080 Eigleberry St.
Witnesses told police they thought the suspect was intoxicated and appeared agitated at the time.
But Perez appeared calm Thursday at his preliminary hearing, wearing a brown Department of Corrections jersey, covering most of his seven gang-related tattoos, and listening through a headset while a court interpreter repeated police testimony in Spanish.
The victim, who was 25 at the time of the incident, testified with the assistance of a Spanish interpreter that he was shot nearly six years ago.
“I was sitting down at home when there was shooting outside,” he said. “It hit me on the ankle.”
Gilroy Police Detective Mitch Madruga, who was working patrol at the time, testified that a witness saw the suspect “holding a gun at his side, he was sweating and acting wild,” when he pointed the gun at a red car near the intersection of Eigleberry and Ninth streets and fired a gunshot about 10pm.
About 15 minutes beforehand, police responded to a call from a suspect with a similar description, for brandishing a gun and assaulting a man with a beer bottle on Southgate Court.
Two witnesses positively identified Perez in police line ups for both incidents.
Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero found sufficient evidence to move to trial.
Perez faces two felony counts for assault with a deadly weapon, including one with a firearm, a felony violation for discharging a gun in a home, and for active participation in a criminal street gang.
He will be in court for formal arraignment March 13 at which time a trial date could be set.
