Officer stopped to help man lying on side of Pacheco Pass; man
allegedly grew violent, attacked officer
A Gilroy police officer shot and killed a man after he attacked the officer on the side of Pacheco Pass Highway, a sheriff’s sergeant said.
Gilroy residents were alarmed and unsettled when about a dozen police cars headed out of town on 10th Street at “full speed.”
At 7:38 p.m. Friday, officer Eustaquio Rodriguez, also known as ‘Paco,’ a six-year veteran of the Gilroy Police Department and member of the Anti-Crime Team, was headed westbound on Highway 152 west of San Felipe Road, on his way back from serving a subpoena in Gustine, when he spotted 33-year-old Gurmit Singh lying partially in the roadway with his head over the white line in traffic, Sheriff’s Sgt. Dalia Rodriguez said. The officer was on duty, in full uniform and traveling in a white, unmarked police car. With many large trucks and cars speeding by on the heavily traveled road, the officer stopped to help Singh, who grew violent and attacked the officer, Dalia Rodriguez said.
“In this particular case, you observe something going on and it’s his job to render aid,” she said.
As the man attacked, the officer drew his gun and shot Singh, she said. Singh was airlifted to San Jose Regional Hospital, where he was pronounced dead “several” hours later.
Singh lived in San Jose until he moved to Washington two years ago, said family acquaintance Harjeet Gill of San Jose. Gill said Singh was married with two children. When the incident happened Friday night, Singh was traveling to San Jose from Fresno. Gill was surprised to hear the news and said Singh was a “nice guy.”
He was involved in “a very violent altercation with his family members prior to being dropped off on the side of the road,” Dalia Rodriguez said. So violent, that “the family did not find it safe for him to be in the vehicle,” she added. They left him on the side of the road and drove off looking for help or a call box, she said. She would not provide details of the attack and did not say if Singh was armed, claiming their secrecy was important to the integrity of the ongoing investigation.
Although the sheriff’s office is waiting for the toxicology report, witnesses told police that Singh appeared mentally unstable, Dalia Rodriguez said. She said she could not disclose who the witnesses were.
Highway 152 was closed for at least two hours while law enforcement investigated the incident.
The officer, who was not injured in the attack, has been placed on administrative leave while the Gilroy Police Department conducts an internal investigation – protocol for an officer-involved shooting, Rodriguez said.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department is leading the investigation which will also be monitored by the district attorney. In the meantime, the GPD is conducting its own investigation.
GPD Interim Chief of Police Scot Smithee did not return several phone calls by press time Monday.
The incident was the second major attack on a police officer in three months. In mid-November, Pete Joseph Valdez III pulled a gun on Gilroy officer John Ballard and pulled the trigger multiple times, police said. The gun jammed and Ballard, with the assistance of another officer, managed to wrestle Valdez into submission.
Valdez has been charged with attempted murder of a police officer – which carries a life sentence – among other charges and is next scheduled to appear at the South County Courthouse Feb. 22.
A police officer hasn’t shot and killed a civilian in more than 15 years in Gilroy.
On June 2, 1992, Wayne Katashima, 24, was killed at the National Guard Armory on Wren Avenue after he wounded two police officers, Assistant Police Chief Vern Gardner and Corporal Dan Renville. Edward Roman Villasana, 35, was shot and killed Dec. 3, 1992, after he emerged from his home on the 7200 block of Carmel Street aiming a loaded semi-automatic assault rifle.
