A 25-year-old Gilroy man has been hospitalized with
life-threatening injuries after being stabbed several times early
Sunday morning when a fight near Eighth Street and Monterey Road
spilled into a nearby street, according to the Gilroy Police
Department.
A 25-year-old man has been hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after being stabbed several times early Sunday morning when a fight near Eighth Street and Monterey Road spilled into a nearby street, according to the Gilroy Police Department.
Police said approximately nine people participated in the fight, including two who broke away from the skirmish and stabbed the man, who was not involved in the original fight, in the 7100 block of Eigleberry Street.
The GPD said officers were called to the scene at 2:42 a.m., and the stabbing suspects were described as young Hispanic males with only limited descriptions available. The suspect armed with the knife was described as wearing dark clothing, dark-colored baseball cap and a black sweatshirt. The second suspect was described as wearing dark clothing, according to police.
A weapon has not been recovered, according to the GPD.
An investigation is ongoing, and the GPD’s Anti-Crime team is treating the incident as gang related, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said.
Police said the stabbing suspects and others involved in the fight fled south on Eigleberry Street, where they were followed by a 29-year-old male Gilroy resident who witnessed the incident. The witness was then attacked by three juvenile suspects near Ninth and Eigleberry Streets, according to the GPD.
Officers were able to arrest the three juveniles, but the rest of the suspects fled, police said.
The 29-year-old victim suffered minor injuries that did not require medical attention, Gallacinao said.
“There’s always an amount of gang activity in the city. Some of its reported and some of it is not,” Gallacinao said. “The police department does its best to try to suppress gang activity, but there are times when the activity will continue.”
He added, “Just because gang activity is not reported, doesn’t mean its not going on.”
Sunday’s incident occurred near a home on Eigleberry Street city officials called a haven for gang-related activity in January.
The city declared the home, located at 7216 Eigleberry, “unfit for habitation” Jan. 18. Police arrested four people there at about 10 p.m. Jan. 14 on suspicion of drug possession and probation violation, and even used a Taser on one uncooperative suspect, according to the GPD.
Police said the residence has been subject to multiple narcotics-related searches during the past several years.
GPD officers arrested several suspected Norteno gang members during a narcotics search at the home in October 2010. Five people were arrested, and a police search revealed methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana throughout the residence.
Gallacinao said the former residents of that home had moved out and the problem “has been abated.”
He said he wasn’t certain if Sunday’s fight and stabbing were related to the area surrounding that house.
“I’m not sure if this is isolated to that specific area or if something else is going on,” Gallacinao said.
Anyone with information regarding this incident can contact Gang Investigator Doug Remmick at 846-0357 or anonymously at 1-800-782-7463.
