GILROY
– Jurors split Monday over whether a Los Angeles gang member
helped burglarize the Zales jewelry outlet on Jan. 8, but they also
found a woman from that city guilty of the crime.
GILROY – Jurors split Monday over whether a Los Angeles gang member helped burglarize the Zales jewelry outlet on Jan. 8, but they also found a woman from that city guilty of the crime.
Seven jurors thought Antonio Neely, 36, should be acquitted of burglary for the benefit of a criminal street gang, while five voted for convicting him. Deputy District Attorney Tom Farris has not yet decided whether he will retry the case.
The jury agreed, however, that Victoria Jefferson, 28, participated in the heist by driving a rented getaway car from Zales, that she recklessly evaded police as she sped off and that she committed both crimes to benefit Los Angeles gangs. Judge Robert Ambrose will sentence her in September.
Two cohorts, Willie Cross, 37, and Benny Harris, 40, pleaded no contest on June 18 to burglary with the gang enhancement and a second enhancement because more than $50,000 worth of goods were stolen.
All four defendants hail from Los Angeles, where the men are verified members of gangs affiliated with the Bloods, according to Gilroy police detective John Marfia, who investigated the case. Neely and Harris are members of the Black P-Stones gang, while Cross belongs to the Bounty Hunters, according to Marfia.
Although Jefferson participated in the gang-related crime, Marfia said, “It’s a little harder to substantiate” whether she was a member.
The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office may pursue more suspects in the burglary, Farris confirmed. A Zales security videotape showed four African-American males wearing black, smashing jewelry cases and stealing merchandise, but only three males were arrested.
Gilroy police officers responded quickly to the alarm, and as they gave chase, Cpl. Jimmy Callahan crashed his patrol car into a tree on Arroyo Circle, suffering minor injuries and totaling the cruiser.
California Highway Patrol officers arrested Jefferson after bursting the getaway car’s tires with a spike strip at the intersection of state Highway 152 and Interstate 5 near Los Banos. They found $125,000 worth of jewelry in the trunk.
That same day, Gilroy police arrested Cross during a four-hour manhunt. Officers said Jefferson let four males out of the car on eastbound 152 near Lovers Lane.
Neely and Harris were arrested in Los Angeles a few weeks later. All four have been in Santa Clara County jail since their arrests.
Harris’ face was visible on the videotape, according to police and prosecutors. As for Neely, the car was rented in the name of his wife, his prints were on the car, and a backpack containing letters and prescription drugs in Neely’s name was found in the car.
“The difficult thing with Neely was the circumstances,” Marfia said Monday after hearing about the jury’s decision. “The problem with that was that the vehicle had been rented by his wife, so that kind of gave him somewhat of an excuse or an alibi for having these things in the vehicle.
Marfia suspects this group burglarized jewelry from other stores as well, pointing to several unsolved department store raids in Southern California and the Central Valley.
Neely and Jefferson’s nearly three-week trial, which began June 22, was held in San Jose. The jury deliberated Wednesday, Thursday and Monday before announcing its decision.
Farris gave little comment Monday afternoon but said he may reinvestigate the case to determine his chances of success a second time around.
Neely and Jefferson’s defense lawyers could not be contacted as of press time.
