MORGAN HILL
– An unruly and boisterous crowd became threatening Friday
afternoon, prompting Morgan Hill Police to call the Sheriff’s
office and the California Highway Patrol for help.
MORGAN HILL – An unruly and boisterous crowd became threatening Friday afternoon, prompting Morgan Hill Police to call the Sheriff’s office and the California Highway Patrol for help.
Morgan Hill officers were attempting to arrest Ruben Mestaz, 37, at the Morgan Hill Apartments, 17890 Monterey Road, at about 3:25 p.m. Friday when a nearly hour-long melee and search began.
Police used pepper spray – which drifted with gusty winds to apartment residents watching and taking part in the melee – to break up the crowd. One man who received a heavy dose of pepper spray was treated by paramedic firefighters.
Some of the apartment residents disputed police accounts of the incident, saying that authorities were never threatened or in danger.
Jason Mestaz, an uncle of Ruben Mestaz, said relatives were yelling at police to alert them about the possibility of a baby being in the apartment. No baby was found in the residence.
Mestaz, who lives at 470 San Pedro Ave., was booked into Santa Clara County Jail on a warrant for violating probation. Police had received a tip that Mestaz was visiting relatives in apartment 105 at the complex.
Sgt. Dave Myers said police also wanted to question Mestaz about possible involvement in a recent burglary.
About six weeks ago at the apartment complex, police had attempted to arrest Mestaz on the warrant but he successfully fled out the back door, Myers said.
More than 20 officers from area departments were on hand as authorities searched for a 15-year-old relative who allegedly threw a bicycle at them. The 15-year-old ran away but was captured about an hour later, hiding between two units along the railroad tracks at the rear of the trailer park located on the east side of Monterey Road at Wright Avenue. He was cited and released to a relative after a trip to the police station.
A 17-year-old boy, also a relative of Mestaz, was booked into Juvenile Hall on charges of battery on a police officer and resisting arrest.
Lt. Joe Sampson said Mestaz had barricaded himself inside the apartment with chairs and refused to let officers inside.
At one point officers pushed open a window at the front of the apartment and Mestaz threatened them with a chair, Sampson said.
Police entered the residence when an officer broke a rear window, distracting Mestaz. He was eventually taken into custody after refusing to cooperate for a time, Sampson said.
Two other men in the residence were briefly detained.
“Several of the onlookers were relatives of Mestaz and refused to disperse when ordered by the officers to stay clear,” Sampson said. “The crowd on the outside became more and more boisterous and resistive to the sole officer who was still outside the apartment. They ignored his orders to back up.
“One of the relatives in the crowd threw a bicycle toward the officer just as a second officer arrived to assist. The officers began to arrest the suspect who threw the bicycle at which point a third relative pushed the arresting officers in an attempt to free him.
“A third officer arrived on scene and attempted to arrest the third suspect who ran into another apartment and jumped out a back window.”
At that point, police put out a call for mutual aid. As more police arrived, the crowd broke up. Authorities then established a perimeter around the apartment complex and began searching for the 17-year-old.
