Crime

A fugitive was arrested in Gilroy late Wednesday night after he escaped from his jail cell at the Merced County Jail, according to a press release from the Gilroy Police Department.

A registered sex offender was arrested Dec. 13 in Gilroy for illegally making contact with a minor during a compliance sweep conducted by a multi-jurisdictional task force, according to a press release from the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office.

An 8,500-gallon gasoline tanker spilled thousands of gallons of fuel after colliding with a speeding motorist along Highway 101 south of Tennant Avenue early Thursday morning.

Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies will be conducting a DUI warrant sweep in an effort to hold accountable those impaired driving suspects who have failed to show up to previous scheduled court dates, according to a press release from the Sheriff’s Office. Deputies will be fanning out into neighborhoods throughout the County in the coming days “in search of high-risk DUI offenders,” the press release says. The deputies will be serving warrants and arresting those who either failed to show up for a court date or violated the terms of their probation on an outstanding DUI violation.“The best bet for anyone with a missed DUI court date is to go to court on their own now,” said Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Turini. “If you don’t, that warrant isn’t going away. We’re going to come find you and take you to jail.” DUI suspects apprehended by warrant sweep often face additional jail time for failing to appear in court or for violating probation, authorities said. Special DUI warrant service operations along with regularly scheduled “high visibility” DUI enforcement has a deterrent effect on those who disregard driving safety and abuse alcohol and drugs, police said. Funding for this operation is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The countywide winter holiday anti-DUI crackdown so far has netted 85 arrests of motorists on suspicion of impaired driving, according to a Santa Clara County Sheriff’s spokesman. The arrests were made by officers from 13 law enforcement agencies throughout the county from Dec. 13 until midnight Sunday, Dec. 15, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. Last year, officers arrested 104 DUI suspects during the same three-day time period, Stenderup said. The arrests were the result of DUI checkpoints and extra officers on patrol for the annual “Avoid the 13” DUI crackdown, police said. The winter holiday crackdown period will continue through Jan. 1, 2014, and will include a DUI checkpoint Friday at an undisclosed location within the City limits, according to police. Funding for the Avoid the 13 program is provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. 

At approximately 1:42 p.m. Friday, the California Highway Patrol responded to a motorcycle accident on U.S. 101 at the Masten Avenue exit in Gilroy. Based on the CHP's incident report, a helicopter is en route to provide aid to the “severely injured” driver.

Commercial burglary

Police chased a suspicious vehicle from north Morgan Hill to the Salinas area and arrested one of the occupants after disabling the car, authorities said. A Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to make a traffic stop on a Honda sedan in the area of Monterey Road and Palm Avenue about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, according to Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Stenderup. The Honda was allegedly speeding and the car’s registration was expired when the deputy tried to initiate the traffic stop, Stenderup said.The driver of the Honda failed to yield to the deputy and fled the area south on Monterey Road, police said. Officers continued to follow the vehicle, and the chase continued south at speeds reaching more than 100 mph, Stenderup said. Multiple agencies - including Morgan Hill Police and the California Highway Patrol - assisted County authorities in chasing down the suspect, according to witnesses. The pursuit continued onto U.S. 101 southbound, police said. Officers anticipating the suspicious vehicle’s arrival deployed “spike strips” on the freeway just south of the pursuit to puncture the Honda’s tires, Stenderup said. When the Honda reached the area of the spike strips, the vehicle became disabled and stopped in the area of U.S. 101 and Crazy Horse Canyon Road in Monterey County, police said. Officers observed a number of people run on foot from the stopped Honda, but were only able to detain and arrest one of the vehicle’s occupants, Stenderup said. Arrested was a 25-year-old Santa Clara man, police said. Stenderup did not know if the man was the driver or a passenger in the Honda. He was booked at Santa Clara County Jail. Authorities have not yet released the arrested suspect’s name because the investigation is incomplete, Stenderup said. The other occupants of the vehicle have not been identified or arrested, police said. No injuries were reported.

Local authorities responded to three separate residential burglaries on Dec. 4, including two in Gilroy and one in an unincorporated area of Santa Clara County.