A rash of stolen vehicles, two high-speed pursuits – one that
ended in a crash – and a tire blowout to a responding officer’s
patrol vehicle made for a busy last day of the year for Morgan Hill
police.
A rash of stolen vehicles, two high-speed pursuits – one that ended in a crash – and a tire blowout to a responding officer’s patrol vehicle made for a busy last day of the year for Morgan Hill police.
The twisted yet connected series of events that started early New Year’s Eve morning, ended with four stolen sedans recovered, one teen arrested, and at least two suspects still on the loose, according to Sgt. Jerry Neumayer.
Shortly after 2 a.m., police received two calls within minutes reporting stolen vehicles on opposite sides of Morgan Hill. As an officer was driving to the scene of the first stolen vehicle – a black Acura that was parked near Bluebonnet Court and DeWitt Avenue – dispatch received a call from a resident near Cory Drive and San Benancio Way who reported thieves in the process of stealing a vehicle in front of that home, Neumayer said.
Officer Gary Cupps was in the area of Cory Drive. He responded to the second incident and foiled the theft attempt, though the two suspects fled in two separate vehicles that were parked in front of the reporting resident’s home. Cupps followed the two vehicles, which fled at high speeds northbound onto U.S. 101 from Dunne Avenue, Neumayer said.
The two vehicles soon separated, and Cupps followed one of them – an older model Honda sedan – to Capital Expressway, where the driver stopped and tried to flee on foot near the intersection with the freeway. The 17-year-old San Jose man was caught and arrested on suspicion of stealing a vehicle, Neumayer said. He was booked and released to his parents.
The second car that fled the attempted theft on Cory Drive was later recovered, unoccupied, on U.S. 101 near Cochrane Road. That car had been reported stolen from a residence off Majorca Drive, and Neumayer said it was either a Honda or Acura sedan. The thief has not been found or identified.
Meanwhile, when officer David Ray was on his way to help Cupps pursue the two suspected thieves near Cory Drive, he saw a black Acura driving at high speed with its headlights turned off. The car was going east on Dunne Avenue, and Ray chased it.
The Acura reached speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour until it crashed into a tree as it went around a sharp southbound curve on Dunne Avenue near Thomas Grade, Neumayer said. The car was “extremely damaged,” and the driver fled on foot as soon as Ray arrived. The male suspect jumped over a backyard fence and ran toward Thomas Grade, Neumayer said. He was described as wearing a a dark hat, a gray sweatshirt, with his hair in a pony tail.
Police think the Acura that crashed was the vehicle reported stolen minutes earlier from Bluebonnet Court, Neumayer said.
Also on his way to assist Cupps in the chase on U.S. 101 was Sgt. Troy Hoefling. But his patrol vehicle, a Ford Explorer, suffered a blown tire while he was en route going about 70 miles per hour on the freeway. Neumayer said the vehicle did not crash, and Hoefling did not suffer any injuries though he was unable to assist due to the damage.
Still later, police recovered another stolen vehicle in the parking lot of Carl’s Jr. restaurant, 16995 Condit Road. Neumayer did not know what kind of car it was, but police determined that it had been stolen in San Jose.
All four stolen cars recovered in the incidents were Hondas and Acuras, Neumayer said. Three of them had been stolen late Dec. 30 or early in the morning Dec. 31 in Morgan Hill, police said.
The Japanese sedan makes, especially those from the late 1980s and early 1990s, are popular among car thieves because the ignition systems wear out over time and can be easily bypassed with makeshift keys, Neumayer said. The cars are often “chopped” or disassembled at a discreet location and the parts are sold on the black market.
“Sometimes, the thieves use them just for their own transportation,” Neumayer said.
Police are still investigating the thefts with the assistance of the Regional Auto Theft Task Force. They do not yet know if the stolen vehicles are connected to a report of a stolen Ford pickup on the 17600 block of DeWitt Avenue Dec. 28.
Anyone with information about these incidents or the identity of the outstanding suspects may call the Morgan Hill Police Department at (408) 779-2101 or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867.
