Suspect in attempted robbery comes up empty-handed
Police continue to look for a Hispanic male who attempted to rob two people, allegedly with a gun, in a taxicab early Saturday morning on Llagas Avenue.
The would-be robber came up empty handed when the driver of the taxi and the other passenger refused to hand over any cash.
According to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Terrie Booten, the suspect is described as an Hispanic male with a shaved head and brown eyes, 5’10” and 225 pounds, last seen wearing a gray checkered sweater, gray pants and white sneakers.
“We had called a cab driver at approximately 3:30am on the 19th to pick up someone we released from custody,” Booten said Monday. “As he was driving him, he received a second call to pick up someone in the area of Monterey Road and Peebles Avenue.”
What happened next, Booten said, is somewhat sketchy, as the cab driver speaks “limited English.” The passenger from the police department was in the front seat of the taxi, and the suspect was in the back seat of the taxi. A conversation in English began between the two, and the driver heard the suspect say something about a “scrapper” – a derogatory term for a member of the Sureño gang.
“That angered the front passenger, who began to argue with the back seat passenger,” she said.
The suspect then asked the driver, who was driving westbound on Llagas, to make a U-turn and head back toward the intersection of Hale Avenue. The driver turned around, Booten said, and pulled to the side of the road near Shadowbrook Way. The suspect announced he was carrying a .32 caliber pistol, and demanded that the front seat passenger and the driver give him their money or he would shoot.
When both refused, Booten said, the suspect fled, running through the Shadowbrook housing complex.
“We set up a perimeter, but we were unable to locate the suspect,” Booten said. “He was last seen in the backyard of 485 Maiden Spring.”
The weapon was never shown to the intended victims, Booten added, and there were no injuries.
