SAN MARTIN
– The Hollister man accused of stabbing his co-worker in the
throat April 16 and sparking a police manhunt through south Gilroy
was in court in San Martin Tuesday to hear the charges against
him.
SAN MARTIN – The Hollister man accused of stabbing his co-worker in the throat April 16 and sparking a police manhunt through south Gilroy was in court in San Martin Tuesday to hear the charges against him.
Gabriel Lopez, 37, is charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon and two other felony charges for allegedly stabbing fellow Hollister resident Michael Reese outside of Reese’s car parked near the Garlic Farm at Bolsa Street and Monterey Road in south Gilroy. Lopez faces up to 13 years in prison for the charges.
Reese’s puncture wound to his neck required emergency surgery, but he is expected to make a full recovery.
Lopez remains in custody at the county’s Main Jail in San Jose on a $150,000 bail.
On Tuesday, detectives said that a feud between Reese and Lopez over a mutual girlfriend was the cause of the violence.
“There was some sort of bickering about a mutual girlfriend,” said John Marfia, a
detec-tive with the Gilroy Police Depart-ment.
Police had to wait two days to inter-view Reese following the inci-
dent due to his injuries and subsequent surgery, which kept him sedated and unable to speak until Friday. But Friday afternoon Reese talked to police and they were able to arrest Lopez without incident later that day at his Valleyview Drive home in Hollister.
Lopez was also found in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, charges which could be added to the case at a later time, said Mark Hood, the South County Supervising District Attorney who is currently handling the case.
Reese’s criminal history is limited to misdemeanor drug abuse, while Reese’s is still unknown.
“(Lopez’s) current criminal history is not on court file so I can’t give you any information,” Hood said.
Lopez will go back to court at 9 a.m. in San Martin on Friday when he is scheduled to make a plea.
