Crime

More than a year after Gilroy police helped spearhead the largest undercover sting in the department’s history, the fruit of their labor continues to manifest as more than a third of 118 arrested criminals have been dealt the heavy hand of justice.

This week Gilroy Police responded to a variety of crimes, including burglaries, drug possession, property damage and theft.

Richard Rodriguez, Jr., 49, surrendered to authorities less than 12 hours after the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office announced a $250,000 warrant was issued for his arrest in relation to a bizarre kidnapping incident that happened in Morgan Hill earlier this month. 

Police removed nearly 400 marijuana plants from a building in east Gilroy, less than two blocks away from an elementary school, after a passerby reported what turned out to be “crooks stealing from crooks,” according to Gilroy police Sgt. Joseph Deras.

Police are looking for a man who robbed Wells Fargo Bank in Morgan Hill Saturday afternoon.

Police are looking for a white van whose driver chased a 13-year-old girl through a west Morgan Hill neighborhood Friday morning.

Police and deputies in Santa Clara County arrested 97 motorists on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs this weekend, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office. 

For the third time, the plea hearing was continued for the man who allegedly charmed multiple South County seniors into giving him money for landscaping services he never completed.

Forty-three of the 46 federally charged suspects from Operation Garlic Press - the 39-agency, 16-month undercover investigation led by Gilroy Police in 2011 - have been sentenced to terms in prison ranging from six months to 20 years.