Crime

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.

The Gilroy Police Department and City Council are concerned that a double-digit increase in crime between October 2011 and October 2012 is a direct result of legislation that lets felons out of prison without state supervision.

Here's your latest digest of criminal happenings in Gilroy, including a commercial burglary, multiple residential burglaries, passing counterfeit currency, possession of knives on school grounds and theft from a parked vehicle.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to a variety of crimes this week, including sodomy with a person younger than 16, possession of a controlled substance for sale, first-degree burglary and assault with a deadly weapon. Arrests were recorded in this week's GPD blotter from Dec. 2 through 9.

The YMCA child care employee who is accused of sexually assaulting multiple small children under his care at a Morgan Hill facility appeared briefly in court Tuesday, but the hearing was continued until Feb. 4, 2014.Nicolas Lhermine, 20 of Morgan Hill, remains in custody at Santa Clara County Jail on charges of lewd and lascivious acts with a child younger than 12, oral copulation on a child younger than 10, possession of child pornography and production of child pornography. All the charges are related to five victims identified since his arrest in July, according to authorities. Lhermine is accused of making inappropriate sexual contact with or taking illegal obscene photographs of the victims. Lhermine’s hearing at South County Courthouse Tuesday lasted less than two minutes. Lhermine said nothing out loud during the hearing, but consulted quietly with his attorney Riccardo Ippolito before and after the brief proceeding. Lhermine’s next hearing is scheduled for Feb. 4, 2014 at South County Courthouse.Four of the alleged child victims were age 7 or younger at the time of the assaults, and were victimized by Lhermine while they were under his care a child care program at Paradise Valley Elementary School, according to investigators. The child care program was operated by the YMCA, for whom Lhermine worked for four years before his arrest. The youngest of the victims is 3 years old, authorities said. The fifth alleged victim is a 17-year-old girl of whom investigators found nude pictures on Lhermine’s mobile phone, according to police. The girl was not affiliated with the YMCA program, but Lhermine knew her. Lhermine was arrested by Morgan Hill police July 12, when a 6-year-old girl under his care at the YMCA program told her parents and investigators that Lhermine forced her to engage in a sex act in the bathroom at the day care site, authorities said. During the initial investigation, police found the pictures of the 17-year-old girl on his phone. During a follow-up investigation which included assistance from YMCA staff to reach out to the parents of all children who had ever been under Lhermine’s care at the YMCA, authorities identified three more alleged female victims - ages 3, 5 and 7. Lhermine faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, according to authorities.The suspect worked as a child care aide at the YMCA day care facility during the alleged assaults, and has held numerous positions - including youth soccer coach and child care at other YMCA facilities - in his four years of employment at the YMCA, according to authorities.

A 51-year-old Oakland man died of his injuries after he was struck by a vehicle Dec. 8 at approximately 7 p.m. near the intersection of Monterey Road and Buena Vista Avenue, according to a press release from the Gilroy Police Department.