Crime

The Gilroy Police Department is seeking the public's help in identifying the suspect or suspects responsible for a shooting that took place early Sunday morning at an apartment complex located at 985 Montebello Drive.

A 26-year-old Hollister woman died Thursday evening on U.S. 101 in Gilroy after her vehicle hit a guardrail and flipped several times.

The sentencing has been delayed for the former Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education trustee who plead no contest to two felony counts of grand theft, three counts of perjury and one other count of grand theft.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to a variety of crimes in the past week, including burglary, participation in a criminal street gang, possession of a controlled substance for sale, hit and run and battery. Arrests are recorded from the GPD's blotter dating Oct. 3 through Oct. 15.

The City of Gilroy is “vindicated” after a U.S. Federal Court Judge in San Jose tossed out a controversial year-old lawsuit filed by former Fire Division Chief Edward Bozzo and current Fire Division Chief Phillip King, who claimed they were cheated out of a combined $30,000 in overtime pay.

Police arrested two people on suspicion of possession of counterfeit currency Tuesday when one of them allegedly purchased items at Target using a fake $100 bill. Morgan Hill police responded to Target, 1066 Cochrane Road, about 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on a report of a woman who used a suspicious $100 bill to purchase items at the store, according to a press release from MHPD. When officers arrived, they were told the woman, later identified as Shazda McCormick, 24 of Union City, was seen entering a white Cadillac in the store’s parking lot, police said. The vehicle was located in the same shopping center, in front of the Staples store. Officers contacted employees of Staples who told them McCormick made a purchase in that store using a counterfeit $100 bill, police said. McCormick was contacted by police as she attempted to leave Staples, according to the press release. A second suspect, Marcell West, 22 of Union City, was located inside the white Cadillac. A search revealed West had six more counterfeit $100 bills inside his pants pocket. McCormick and West were booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of passing counterfeit currency, police said. A number of downtown Morgan Hill retailers last week reported incidents of customers trying to pass counterfeit $100 bills. It is unclear if the suspects arrested Tuesday are related to the reported counterfeit incidents last week. Anyone with information about this incident can call Morgan Hill Police at (408) 779-2101. 

A high-speed pursuit of a Mercedes-Benz that started Monday in San Jose ended in Morgan Hill with two suspects being taken into custody.

An impaired driver attempted to outrun police early Monday morning by driving through a fence and through a field before trying to run away on foot, according to police reports. About 2:17 a.m. Monday a motorist reported the possible DUI, police said. The suspected impaired driver was traveling at a “high rate of speed” southbound on U.S. 101, just past the Cochrane Road exit. He was driving a white GMC pickup. Officers located the vehicle on the freeway and began following it, according to police reports. The suspect got off the freeway at San Martin Avenue, and turned west onto that road. The suspect ran a red light at Monterey Road, and continued driving through a dead end on San Martin Avenue, police said. The vehicle apparently crashed through a fence at the end of the street and was located in a nearby field. When officers approached the vehicle, nobody was inside, police said. The driver, Casey Riland, 44, was eventually found within walking distance of the vehicle, police said. Riland was arrested and booked on suspicion of DUI and refusing to comply with a traffic officer. 

Downtown Morgan Hill merchants have reported a flurry of recent attempts by customers to pass suspicious $100 bills for retail purchases. The owners of at least six stores downtown reported the suspicious currency last week, according to Morgan Hill Downtown Association Office Manager Raquel Crowell. One of the store owners reported on Thursday that two women tried to pass a $100 bill, and refused to let her mark the note with a special pen used to detect counterfeit currency when they presented the cash to her. Another downtown store owner - Krystal Thomas of SleepPlayLove Children’s Consignment Boutique - said she received a fake $100 bill last week “that had all of the correct markings and holograms,” according to an e-mail Thomas sent to the MHDA. “It even passed the pen test.” Thomas recently purchased a “UV counterfeit bill detector” that lights up a “security strip” in higher denomination bills when the cash is placed under the light, according to her e-mail. The possibly fake $100 bill she received last week did not show a security strip when placed under the detector. She added especially with the holidays coming up, retail store owners and employees should be aware of the presence of counterfeit bills and how to detect them.“Most people are really unaware how sophisticated the counterfeit bills have become and we have found that in most cases people are unknowingly passing these bills they’ve received as change at gas stations or even from banks,” Thomas said. Staff at the Morgan Hill Downtown Association spent Monday morning getting the word out about the recent incidents. The MHDA seeks to further educate store owners and cashiers about how to detect counterfeit bills, according to Crowell.As a result of the suspicious currency last week, many stores downtown are no longer accepting $100 bills, Crowell said. Earlier this year, Morgan Hill police conducted a class for Chamber of Commerce members on how to spot counterfeit currency, and Crowell said it might be time for another such class for MHDA members. “That may help people detect counterfeit bills,” Crowell said.