Crime

Petty theft

The Gilroy Police Department will focus on motorcycle safety Friday in an effort to curb the incidence of motorcycle-involved deaths and injuries within city limits.

Cathy Canales, of Gilroy, keeps 19 dead fish in her freezer, hoping authorities will investigate her reports of a series of bizarre break-ins during which her pets - cats, guinea pigs, hamsters and this month, fish - have allegedly been mutilated, maimed and even killed, according to Canales.

Police arrested a man who tried to run from officers when they tried to search his home in relation to a fraudulent check cashing investigation, police said. On Monday, Morgan Hill officers tried to contact Lawrence Briscoe, 33 of Morgan Hill, at a residence on the 16000 block of San Benancio Drive, according to a press release from MHPD. During the search, police watched as Briscoe fled on foot and jumped fences in an effort to get away, authorities said. Officers chased him and found Briscoe hiding in a backyard. Briscoe dislocated his shoulder during the chase, when he jumped over a 10-foot fence, police said. The suspect was medically cleared and booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of possession of narcotics, attempting to cash a fraudulent check and fleeing from police, the press release said. 

The arraignment for a southern California man accuse of traveling to Morgan Hill to have arranged sex with minors was continued to Sept. 25, according to authorities.

Here's your weekly digest of criminal happenings in Gilroy, including a bar fight, assault, fraud, pursuit of a stolen vehicle and various grand thefts.

New sexual assault charges filed Tuesday against 20-year-old Morgan Hill resident Nicolas Lhermine added two more children – including a 3-year-old girl – to the YMCA employee’s list of victims, authorities said.

The Gilroy Police Department has announced that its traffic unit will be conducting a DUI and driver's license checkpoint beginning 9 p.m. Friday and ending at 3 a.m. Saturday at an unknown location within city limits.

Authorities arrested a southern California man who traveled to Morgan Hill with the intent of having arranged illegal sexual relations with two minors, according to Morgan Hill police. Stephen Lewis, 21 of Oceanside, was arrested Saturday following a multi-agency sting involving Morgan Hill Police, Homeland Security Investigations and the Silicon Valley Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, a press release from MHPD said. Lewis, who lives in southern California, contacted a man over the Internet who agreed to allow Lewis to have sexual relations with his two minor children, police said. The man contacted by Lewis was in fact an undercover agent. The undercover agent and Lewis arranged a predetermined time and location in Morgan Hill to meet, police said. When that meeting happened, Morgan Hill police took him into custody without incident. Lewis was later booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of meeting a minor to engage in lewd or lascivious behavior and possession of child pornography, police said. “Law enforcement works diligently to protect everyone in our communities, especially children who are the most vulnerable,” Morgan Hill Police Chief David Swing said. “I am very proud of the dedicated professionals who worked as a team to keep this predator from victimizing children.” Joseph Vincent, Assistant Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations in San Jose, added, “Many child sexual predators mistakenly believe they can act on their unconscionable urges with impunity and anonymity online, but as this case shows, nothing could be further from the truth. Homeland Security Investigations will continue to work closely with its law enforcement partners here and around the globe to target those engaged in the sexual exploitation of children to see that they are held accountable for their crimes.” Anyone with information about this case can contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867. 

The former Gilroy Unified School District Board of Education trustee charged with swindling $52,000 from a leading South County nonprofit; using campaign donations for personal expenses; and defrauding an international engineering firm out of “tens of thousands of dollars” for meetings that supposedly never occurred; will appear at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 17 for probation and sentencing in Dept. 38 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.