Crime

After staking out a stolen vehicle outside a Morgan Hill hotel, officers arrested three suspects on suspicion of counterfeit currency and controlled substance violations, police said.

The Gilroy man who was arrested for directing suspected illegal medical marijuana dispensaries in Gilroy, Morgan Hill and and San Jose is set to go to trial for a separate case in which he is accused of embezzling $1.6 million in a grand real estate scheme. 

The Hollister woman who pleaded no contest to trying to slip sleep-aid medication to toddlers under her care at a Morgan Hill daycare facility was sentenced to six months in Santa Clara County Jail Monday, according to authorities. Deborah Gratz, 59 of Hollister, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Kenneth Shapero following a hearing at South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill. She was sentenced to six months in jail followed by four years of formal probation, with a list of conditions for her release during probation, according to Deputy District Attorney Sumerle Davis. In May, Gratz pleaded no contest to five counts of attempted child endangerment as part of a plea bargain with the D.A.’s office. The misdemeanor charges stem from Gratz’ attempt to put a sleep-aid drug known as Sominex into the sippy-cups of some children under her care at Kiddie Academy daycare in Morgan Hill, authorities said. Gratz had worked at the daycare business since 2007, and has worked in the childcare field for about 20 years. The attempted drugging occurred in early March, according to police. Another employee of Kiddie Academy saw Gratz place an unknown substance into the sippy cups of about 10 toddlers between the ages of 1 and 2. Staff at Kiddie Academy determined that Gratz had placed the over-the-counter sleep-aid medication in the children’s drinks, police said. The staff fired Gratz and reported the attempted drugging to Morgan Hill police. Officers investigated the incident, and arrested Gratz March 11 at her home in Hollister. None of the children were harmed by Gratz’ actions, police said. Police added that Gratz had a “spotless” record during her career as a daycare professional until the incident at Kiddie Academy was reported. Gratz remains out of custody, but she is required to report to South County Courthouse to begin serving her six-month sentence in jail Sept. 27, Davis said.

The Gilroy Police Department made dozens of arrests this past week. Some of the offenses included DUI, possession and exhibiting a deadly weapon. Here is the police blotter from Aug. 28 through Sept. 4.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to an armed robbery that occurred at 3:57 p.m. Tuesday at the Chevron Gas Station, located at 401 Leavesley Road in Gilroy.

The former executive director of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he embezzled funds from the nonprofit organization while he was employed there.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department, which has a substation in San Martin, responded to crimes as usual this past week including theft, vandalism and a bountiful bevvy of drug offenders including one guy who is wanted in Kentucky.

Lori McVicar, the convicted embezzler who abused her role as treasurer to funnel more than $50,000 from the Rod Kelley Elementary School parent club fund in 2001, received prison time, a new probation term and restitution plan at her Aug. 29 court hearing in San Jose, where McVicar admitted she was in violation of her probation.

This week in crime, Gilroy Police took a high baby away from its parents, recovered stolen cars and arrested drunk drivers. Here’s a few incidents:

Law enforcement’s annual end-of-summer DUI crackdown resulted in 309 arrests throughout Santa Clara County, according to authorities.The arrests, all on suspicion of driving under the influence, were reported by sheriff’s office and police departments from Aug. 16 to the end of Labor Day, Sept. 2, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. Some agencies had not yet reported their total DUI arrests for the period as of Wednesday morning. In 2012 during the same time period, local law enforcement agencies reported 390 arrests on suspicion of DUI, Stenderup said. The arrests were part of the annual “Avoid the 13” DUI crackdown, in which police place extra officers and resources on the roads during holiday weekends and other expected high-traffic times. The effort includes sobriety checkpoints, saturation patrols and routine patrol by 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the County. Avoid the 13 is funded by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Police are planning more Avoid the 13 anti-DUI efforts during the upcoming Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays, Stenderup said.