Crime

Monica Diaz, a 28-year-old Gilroy woman, was booked on felony DUI charges New Year's Eve for driving under the influence of marijuana and running her car into Sheriff's Deputy Shannon Catalano, who was on foot at the time and seriously injured as a result.

Francisco Dominguez, a former Gilroy Unified School District trustee who is charged with two counts of felony grand theft after he allegedly embezzled more than $52,000 from a leading South County social services agency, appeared in court for a plea hearing Tuesday morning at the Hall of Justice in San Jose.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to reports of a suspicious circumstance at 2:14 p.m. Dec. 30 on the 9300 block of Monterey Road.

The 51-year-old homicide victim gunned down near Old Gilroy and Alexander streets on New Year's Eve has been identified as Elpidio Morales Jr., born Aug. 13, 1961.

One man originally implicated in the bizarre kidnapping of a handyman in Morgan Hill last month is off the hook for the crime, while the other two suspects remain in custody awaiting further court proceedings. 

Francisco Dominguez, a former Gilroy Unified School District trustee who is charged with two counts of felony grand theft after he allegedly embezzled more than $52,000 from a leading South County social services agency, will appear in court at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Dept. 23 of the Hall of Justice in San Jose.

As a part of this winter holiday season’s enhanced DUI enforcement period, officers in Santa Clara County arrested 432 people on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Of these arrests, 63 were made by Gilroy and Morgan Hill police.

The Gilroy Police Department received multiple calls around 9:33 p.m. Monday regarding a subject who had been shot near Old Gilroy and Alexander streets. Officers arrived at the scene and located the victim lying in the middle of the street, according to a GPD press release.

During a three-day sting targeting illegal outdoor marijuana gardens last week, authorities with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office removed miles of irrigation tubes, cleaned up four tons of trash and destroyed the infrastructure of numerous cultivation sites in South County, police said.

Vandalism