MORGAN HILL
– Police arrested a Morgan Hill man suspected of kidnapping his
girlfriend and assaulting her six weeks ago.
MORGAN HILL – Police arrested a Morgan Hill man suspected of kidnapping his girlfriend and assaulting her six weeks ago.
Jose “Joey” Luis Varelas, 32, of Morgan Hill, was taken into custody without incident Wednesday at a labor camp on Luchessa Avenue in southeast Gilroy. He was arrested on a $500,000 warrant charging him with kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, criminal threats and domestic violence.
He was booked into Santa Clara County Jail and did not post bail.
Gilroy Police officers, a Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team and members of the state Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, along with MHPD officers, went to a migrant labor camp on a tip from a confidential source, according to MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson.
“Given his history, we wanted to cover all eventualities,” Sampson said, referring to the number of police on hand.
On Oct. 28, MHPD officers responded to a call from Varelas’ neighbors on Edmundson Avenue who reported hearing a woman screaming. By the time officers had arrived, Varelas had fled, but his girlfriend told officers he had forced her into a car at Main Avenue and Calle Mazatlan. Police said he physically assaulted her while they were driven by a relative to the suspect’s home at 250-B W. Edmundson Ave.
Once at the residence, Varelas allegedly continued to abuse her by punching her in the face and kicking her, police said. He reportedly strangled her and hit her with a hammer while threatening to kill her.
