An early-morning carjacking left a man stranded south of Gavilan
College, his wallet, briefcase and PDA stolen, his BMW sedan
snatched at knifepoint.
Gilroy – An early-morning carjacking left a man stranded south of Gavilan College, his wallet, briefcase and PDA stolen, his BMW sedan snatched at knifepoint.
Within an hour, his car turned up, singed and abandoned off the intersection of Castro Valley Road and Santa Teresa Boulevard.
The man was turning into Garlic Farm Plaza Gas, 5920 Travel Park Circle, about 5:50am Monday when the two men approached, threw open the car door and began hitting him, ordering him to slide over into the passenger’s seat. One man brandished a knife. Both jumped in and sped southbound on U.S. 101, stopping only to eject the victim south of Gavilan College.
By 6:30am, when the victim reported the attack to police, an officer spotted the BMW 745, abandoned near the college. Gilroy Police Sgt. Jim Gillio said some type of accelerant had been poured inside the vehicle in an attempt to burn it, scorching the interior, but the fire was already snuffed out when the officer arrived. The victim’s wallet, PDA and briefcase, which contained more than $850 worth of electronics, had also been stolen from the car.
The two men were described as Hispanic in their early 20s, one 6 feet tall, the other 5-feet, 8-inches tall, both weighing 200 to 220 pounds. Gillio was unsure what language they spoke or what clothing they were wearing at the time of the assault. He declined to say if a weapon had been recovered, to describe the knife used, or to comment on why the thieves might have set the car on fire.
