Crime

Morgan Hill police will conduct a DUI and drivers license checkpoint Friday, July 19 at an undisclosed location inside the city limits.

Motorists and motorcycle riders are not always the most considerate users of the roadways - resulting in a rise in motorcycle-involved crashes over the years and prompting the Gilroy Police Department to take action, according to a GPD press release.

A band of law enforcement agencies seized more than 10,000 illegal marijuana plants with alleged links to the Mexican cartel from steep terrain of Henry Coe State Park Wednesday afternoon.

Five units from the Gilroy Fire Department and two rigs from South Santa Clara County Fire responded to a three-acre grass fire that started shortly before 1 p.m. near the intersection of Miller Avenue and San Justo Court in southwest Gilroy, according to GFD Division Chief Phil King.

Auto burglary

Multiple charges

Police throughout Santa Clara County reported Sunday they arrested 95 drunken driving suspects on the roads during Independence Day and the post-holiday weekend. Officers from 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the county made the arrests between Wednesday and Sunday night as part of the annual “Avoid the 13” holiday DUI crackdown, according to Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Deputy Kurtis Stenderup. With the use of grant funds from the state and federal government, county police agencies during the DUI campaign use saturation patrols and DUI checkpoints during holiday weekends and other times when a higher-than-usual volume of motorists are on the roads, according to police. Funding for the Avoid the 13 campaign is provided by the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Administration, police said. Anyone may call 911 to report suspected impaired motorists. 

South County fire and EMS personnel responded to at least two vegetation fires July 4 that were likely ignited by unauthorized celebratory fireworks, but for the most part the Independence Day holiday didn't see any significant local fire or medical emergencies, according to authorities. CalFire responded to two grass fires near Morgan Hill Thursday night, according to CalFire Battalion Chief Brandon Leitzke. One of the fires was just off the U.S. 101 north of Morgan Hill, near the Coyote Creek Golf Course, Leitzke said. That fire burned less than an acre of grass and vegetation. Crews also responded to a grass fire on Murphy Springs Drive in northwest Morgan Hill, which burned about an acre of vegetation before it was extinguished, Leitzke said. Both fires were caused by residents setting off “illegal fireworks,” but neither blaze resulted in significant damage or any injuries, Leitzke said. The City of Morgan Hill prohibits the display of fireworks, except in public displays that are authorized, permitted, and supervised by the fire chief, according to the City's municipal code. In Gilroy, where quieter so-called “safe and sane” fireworks are permitted for sale and display only during the Independence Day holiday, crews did not respond to any calls related to fireworks, according to Gilroy Fire Division Chief Colin Martin. That's not to say there was any shortage of celebration - “You could hear (fireworks) everywhere,” Martin said, but the revelry incited no unusual need for emergency services. “It was uneventful, which is good,” Martin said.

The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office is reporting a “significant number” of DUI arrests made yesterday as a result of local routine traffic enforcement and special Avoid the 13 deployments throughout the county.

Rebecca Case was a kindergartner at Rod Kelley Elementary School when former parent club treasurer Lori McVicar stole more than $50,000 in fundraised money.