Hearing continued for murder suspect
San Martin
– Another court date was set Tuesday afternoon as Anthony J.
Frausto, 18, of Morgan Hill appeared before Santa Clara County
Superior Judge Kenneth Shapero.
Hearing continued for murder suspect
San Martin – Another court date was set Tuesday afternoon as Anthony J. Frausto, 18, of Morgan Hill appeared before Santa Clara County Superior Judge Kenneth Shapero.
Frausto, who is charged with killing Luis Bautista, 19, of Gilroy, will be back in court Jan. 10. He is being held without bail in Santa Clara County Jail.
A date for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to take the case to trial could be set during the Jan. 10 court date.
Bautista died after being shot four times behind the Safeway grocery store in Tennant Station shopping center in Morgan Hill. Witnesses described seeing Bautista running from four or five males in their late teens or early 20’s. The suspects fled after Bautista fell to the ground, witnesses said, and Morgan Hill Police conducted an intensive search of the area and interviewed witnesses. Frausto told police when he turned up at the police station the following day that he came “to clear his name” after hearing police were attempting to contact him.
Police have said the killing was likely gang related, as Bautista, who had moved to Morgan Hill from Mexico less than a year before the shooting, was a Sureño and Frausto a Norteño.
Plea delayed in murder case
San Martin – The defense for 17-year-old Eladio Cortez Morales, who is being charged as an adult for the attempted murder of two Gilroy teens, requested additional information before entering a plea Tuesday afternoon at Santa Clara County Superior Court.
Morales was arrested in November by Gilroy Police for the gang-related shooting in the DMart parking lot Oct. 28. Two male teens suffered multiple pellet wounds from a shotgun blast fired at close range. Both were airlifted to San Jose area hospitals and survived.
Morales is believed to have gang ties and is being housed at juvenile hall until his 18th birthday. He will be back in court January 10 for plea.
Combative prisoner hit with charges
Morgan Hill – The charges piled up rapidly after a Morgan Hill man was handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car early Sunday morning, according to Morgan Hill Police Cmdr. Joe Sampson.
Thomas Piedra, 18, was arrested for driving under the influence after running into several parked cars in the parking lot of the Jack in the Box restaurant at the corner of E. Dunne Avenue and Condit Road.
Once Piedra was cuffed and put in the car, however, he became extremely combative, Sampson said. He urinated in the patrol car, he managed to shift his cuffed hands to the front of his body, and he kicked out a window of the patrol car, badly damaging the door.Â
Eventually, he was taken to Santa Clara County Jail, Sampson said, and he began to fight again when he was uncuffed.Â
Piedra was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence, driving without a license, vandalism (likely a felony), resisting arrest and battery on a police officer.
SV Symphony Concert Saturday
Gilroy – The South Valley Symphony will stage its holiday concert at 4pm, Saturday, Dec. 17 at the Gavilan College Performing Arts Center, 5055 Santa Teresa Blvd.
Tickets are on sale at Porcella’s Music at 7357 Monterey St.; Estate Furniture Galley at 7565 Monterey St. and Carole’s Hallmark Shop at 779 First St. Tickets will also be available at the theater box office 45 minutes prior to the performance. Tickets are $15 for adults, $8 for students between 12 and 18 years of age and $12 for senior citizens 55 and older.
Concert-goers are advised to buy tickets early because the venue is expected to be filled to capacity.
Details: Al Navaroli at 848-3934.
Gilroy High School Winter Concert
Gilroy – The Gilroy High School choir will stage the final performance of its Winter Concert at 7:30pm tonight at the GHS Theater. Doors open at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased in advance at GHS or at box office before the show. The box office will open at 6:30pm. Tickets are $5 a person. The performance will include both Christmas and winter songs.
At the culmination of the event alumni will be invited onto the stage to sing “Carol of the Bells” and Handel’s Messiah.
Send news items to City Editor Robert Airoldi. FAX to 842-2206, mail to Gilroy Dispatch, 6400 Monterey Road, Gilroy, CA 95020, or e-mail ed****@****ic.com.
