Gilroy
– One man was stabbed and three robbed at gunpoint in separate
incidents over the weekend.
Police are looking for one 18-year-old Hispanic male in
connection with the stabbing, which occurred in the neighborhood
adjacent to Gilroy High School, and two other adult Hispanic men
who may have carried out two separate armed robberies.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – One man was stabbed and three robbed at gunpoint in separate incidents over the weekend.
Police are looking for one 18-year-old Hispanic male in connection with the stabbing, which occurred in the neighborhood adjacent to Gilroy High School, and two other adult Hispanic men who may have carried out two separate armed robberies.
The stabbing took place about 3:55 early Sunday morning, as the victim was walking on Princevalle Street near Johnson Way, on the east side of the high school campus. According to police, the man with the knife approached the victim, punched him in the face, and then stabbed him five times: three times in the abdomen and twice in the head.
The victim, a 28-year-old man who lives in unincorporated Gilroy, eventually fought off the man with the knife, who fled in an unknown direction, police said.
“It’s unknown why it occurred, it looked like (the victim) was walking down the street,” said Sgt. Kurt Svardal, Gilroy Police Department spokesman. “Whether he knew the suspect or not is unknown.”
The suspect is described as a Hispanic male, 18, 5’8″ and weighing 170 pounds. At the time, he was wearing a red jersey, possibly with a San Francisco 49ers logo, and a dark colored baseball cap.
The victim was taken to a San Jose hospital, but his condition was unavailable at press time. Svardal said police were unable to confirm his condition with the hospital.
GPD detectives are investigating, Svardal said.
“Whether they will be able to bring it to a successful conclusion, I don’t know yet, but they have leads that they are checking into,” he said.
Earlier in the weekend, between 9 and 10 Friday night, three people were robbed at gunpoint in two separate but possibly related incidents.
The first occurred about 9:15pm at South Valley Middle School, 385 IOOF Ave. Two men in their early 20s, who live in East Gilroy, were walking home when two suspects approached them, produced a black revolver, and demanded their wallets, police said.
Police said the victims described one of the suspects as Hispanic, 20, 5’7″ weighing 135 pounds, with black hair in a crew cut, and a mustache. The second suspect was described as a Hispanic male, 30, 5’7″, 180 pounds with brown, short hair, and a mustache. They were last seen walking south on Forest Street, according to the victims.
A third victim was robbed just 15 minutes later and one mile away, while walking on W. Eighth Street between Church and Rosanna streets. One of two suspects placed a black revolver against the victims’ head and demanded his wallet. The victim, a man in his 20s who lives in Central Gilroy, said the suspects drove away in a newer model black Chrysler minivan.
Both suspects were described as 20-year-old Hispanic males, 5’7″ weighing 160 pounds, with shaven heads. At the time, one was wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans, and the second was wearing a red long-sleeved T-shirt and blue shorts.
The two robberies may be related, given the victims’ accounts of the suspects, and the fact that such armed robberies are not at all common in Gilroy, Svardal said.
“The suspect descriptions were very similar so that very well could be,” he said of a possible connection.
While the suspects demanded wallets, Svardal said only that “personal property” was taken from the victims, citing an ongoing investigation as the reason he did not give specifics.
All three robbery victims cooperated with the suspects, which Svardal said was “absolutely” the right thing to do.
“What’s your wallet worth? It’s not worth trying to be a hero, that’s for sure,” he said.
