Three suspected gang members shot up a party in northwest Gilroy
late Friday night, injuring two people before leading police on a
high-speed chase down to Hollister, where authorities arrested all
three, according to police and witnesses.
GILROY
Three suspected gang members shot up a party in northwest Gilroy late Friday night, injuring two people before leading police on a high-speed chase down to their hometown of Hollister, where authorities arrested all three, according to police and witnesses.
The suspects – Robert Martinez, 18, Michael Gallegos, 18, and a 17-year-old male – fled the party along the 9200 block of Sagewood Court in a Volkswagen Passat about 11:45 p.m. Officer Jose Barrera noticed the vehicle driving without lights while he was pulling over another car near Santa Teresa Boulevard and Welburn Avenue, less than a mile from the party. Barrera notified colleagues, but when another officer tried to pull over the car, it sped off, beginning a dangerous 20-mile chase that reached speeds 120 mph, according to police.
During the pursuit, one of the suspects tossed a large caliber pistol from the car, which police recovered. The suspects pulled over in Hollister, where Gilroy police and San Benito County Sheriff’s deputies arrested them for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of a stolen gun and evading police officers – a felony.
Back in Gilroy, Barrera’s routine traffic stop appeared to be connected.
There, officers arrested 19-year-old Jason Fernandez, from the northeast Bay Area town of Galt, and a male, 15, for possessing a concealed knife and a loaded semi-automatic pistol with scratched-out serial numbers, police said. Another male, 17, in the BMW sedan was cited for possession of an illegal knife. Barrera pulled over the car for running a stop sign and searched the vehicle after smelling marijuana. Police suspect the occupants were going to the party where the shooting took place because they were headed in that direction.
The motive for the shooting remains unclear, but Sgt. Robert Locke-Paddon said officers believe the suspects belong to gangs. Police said a skirmish broke out shortly after the suspects arrived at the party thrown by the 19-year-old daughter of Ted Perll.
The father rents the home and was inside with his daughter, 8, and son, 11, during the gathering of about 50 people, he said. When he figured out the gun shots were not firecrackers, he said he and his friend cleared out the house.
“I really don’t know what happened. I just cleared them all out,” Perll, a salesman, said in his driveway Monday after speaking with his landlord and a PG&E employee who showed up to turn off his power for late payments.
“Everything is just falling down on me,” Perll said leaning on a cane, the result of being hit by a car last year, and pointing to a large scar on his head, which he got before the accident when he fell off a roof and then slipped into a coma.
Perll said that his wife, who has been in and out of jail, recently left him and was not around to help Friday night. The only person there was his friend, who moved in for support, he said.
“We just told them all to get out of my house,” Perll said.
As partiers scurried away, two groups of kids carried two people, who appeared injured, into a black truck with tinted windows and another vehicle, a neighbor in the cul-de-sac who requested anonymity said. Saint Louise Regional Hospital reported only one victim, with a gunshot wound to the leg, who was released that night, according to police.
While Friday night’s violence was the first the neighbor recalled, he said late-night parties at Perll’s house occur regularly, especially during summer. Upset neighbors have complained to police and Perll’s landlord, he said.
“A lot of neighbors are really upset. This is a quiet neighborhood. We don’t need stuff like this,” said the man, who has lived on the street for 14 years. “I guess you could describe the kind of people who come over to that house as cholos” – Spanish slang for gangsters. “They’re definitely questionable, and many look like drug dealers.”
This latest violence came a day after suspected gang members fired two 20-gauge shotgun blasts into the air on the 100 block of Southgate Court in south Gilroy, police said. A similar style shooting occurred Nov. 17 on the small dead-end street, but police said that incident did not appear gang-related.
Nobody was injured and no structures were damaged in either shooting, but police said they are searching for the suspects who left behind shotgun casings and other, unspecified evidence. Witnesses said the vehicle from which the shots were fired was a purple Honda sedan with tinted windows and chrome rims. Witnesses also said the occupants of the vehicle yelled gang slogans during the incident.
“These are the most recent events in a string of violent occurrences within Gilroy in recent months,” Sgt. Joseph Deras wrote. “We encourage our citizens to continue to join us in our efforts to eradicate this needless violence.”
Those efforts included a vigil Monday night outside City Hall to remember victims of alcohol and gang violence. It was the latest demonstration since about 100 people took part in a peace march last month after the midday shooting death of Larry Martinez Jr., 18.
The three adults arrested in Friday’s two incidents will be in court Wednesday.
