Crime

Nelson Garcia, the Gilroy man police say is a former “known Norteno gang member” who was found guilty by a jury of resisting or delaying a peace officer in October, said Wednesday he plans on appealing his criminal conviction for the charge.

Police think a 32-year-old man arrested at a Morgan Hill hotel Tuesday on suspicion of possession of fake currency is connected to a spike in reports of counterfeit money over the last few months. Morgan Hill police contacted the man, a wanted felon, at the Morgan Hill Inn, 16250 Monterey Road, where the suspect had been renting a room, a press release from MHPD said. The suspect, Daniel J. Richards, 32 of Morgan Hill, was wanted on a felony warrant out of Orange County for alleged possession of a controlled substance and furnishing marijuana to a minor, police said. Richards was not present when police searched the hotel room, but officers observed several pieces of what appeared to be U.S. currency scattered on the floor, tables, counters and bed, police said. The currency was determined to be counterfeit and most of the bills displayed the same serial number. During the search, officers stationed in the parking lot of the hotel observed a taxi pull up to the room’s door, and saw Richards and a female acquaintance exit the vehicle, police said. Officers arrested Richards on the felony warrant, police said. A search of his person turned up about $700 in fake bills and an unspecified amount of methamphetamine. A further search of Richards’ hotel room found about $300 more in counterfeit currency, a printer and other materials associated to the manufacture of fake money, police said. Richards was booked at Santa Clara County Jail, police said. MHPD has seen a spike of reports of counterfeit being passed within the city over the last several months, and the preliminary investigation into Richards’ activity suggests he might be connected to the majority of these cases, police said. The Morgan Hill Downtown Association has scheduled a clinic on counterfeit currency for local businesses for Nov. 13 at Mama Mia’s Ristorante. A Morgan Hill police officer will be present to offer information on how to detect counterfeit money and what to do when a customer attempts to pass a fake bill.Anyone with information about this crime may contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to a variety of crimes this week including battery, burglary, and carrying a loaded firearm while being under the influence of a controlled substance.

The Gilroy Police Department responded to a robbery at approximately 2:34 p.m. Tuesday at the Chase Bank located at 1177 First St., according to GPD Sgt. Pedro Espinoza. No injuries were reported.

A 20-year-old Gilroy man was arrested Nov. 1 for driving under the influence after he struck and killed a construction worker on Interstate 680 in San Jose, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Authorities are looking for a suspect who led police on a high-speed chase that ended in Morgan Hill, following an armed robbery in Sunnyvale Monday night, police said. About 10:20 p.m. Monday, a Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety officer tried to stop a suspicious vehicle in the area of Arques and America avenues, according to a press release from Sunnyvale DPS. The driver of the vehicle failed to yield to the officer’s red lights and began to evade the officer. About 10:24 p.m., Sunnyvale Dispatch received a report of an armed robbery, police said. A clerk at a convenience store at 395 N. Fair Oaks Ave. reported he was robbed at gunpoint and the suspects fled in an unidentified make of vehicle. The description of the vehicle and the close proximity of the robbery matched the vehicle that failed to yield to the traffic stop, police said. The male driver, with a male occupant in the vehicle, continued to flee, and officers pursued him south on U.S. 101, the press release said. Officers from the California Highway Patrol, Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office and San Jose Police joined the pursuit as it continued on the freeway at high rates of speed. Police pursued the vehicle to the area of the U.S. 101 and Tennant Avenue interchange, where the vehicle lost control and crashed into a chain link fence, the press release said. Both suspects exited the vehicle and continued to flee from officers on foot into a nearby field, police said. Officers, joined by Morgan Hill police, set a perimeter around the field. One suspect, a Mountain View man whose name has not been released, was taken into custody. A search of the area for the second suspect was conducted, but police were unable to locate him, police said. Anyone with information about this incident can contact Sunnyvale DPS at (408) 730-7110.

Police arrested a Morgan Hill woman on suspicion of being intoxicated when she showed up for her job taking care of children, authorities said. Anna Marie Lopez, 58, was arrested about 7 a.m. Monday at her workplace, Child Development Incorporated, on the 300 block of East Main Avenue, according to a press release from MHPD. Lopez, a 10-year employee of the daycare facility, was allegedly under the influence of alcohol while caring for children at the center, police said. She was arrested on suspicion of child endangerment and booked at Santa Clara County Jail, according to police. Anyone with information about this case can contact MHPD at (408) 779-2101, or the anonymous tip line at (408) 947-7867. 

The Gilroy Police Department has been awarded a new traffic safety grant for an anti-DUI program aimed at preventing deaths and injuries on the City of Gilroy’s roadways, according to a press release from the Gilroy Police Department.

At about 9 p.m. Halloween night, a lone suspect wearing a black ski mask entered a gas station at 601 First St. The alleged thief was holding a black bag that appeared to have a heavy item and presented a note to an employee demanding money, according to a Gilroy Police Department press release.

Police are looking for a suspect who schemed with a Morgan Hill man to defraud several victims out of a total of at least $3.5 million in a real estate scam, authorities said. Terrence Brown, 48, and Antranik Kabajouzian, 35 of Morgan Hill - co-founders of the Bay Area Equity Group - are charged with multiple felonies including grand theft and securities fraud, according to a press release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. They are accused of fraudulently misusing their clients’ money in a scheme that included investing unwitting clients’ money into dilapidated homes in Detroit. Brown is currently wanted on a $3.5 million warrant, according to authorities. Kabajouzian was arrested Oct. 22 and remains in custody in lieu of $3.5 million bail. “We are looking for more victims in this case,” prosecutor Katharina Wells said. “Unfortunately, these defendants preyed on many people with promises of unrealistic profits.”Kabajouzian and Brown allegedly induced individuals to invest in out-of-state properties, representing that the properties were habitable, rehabilitated and occupied, the press release said. The suspects guaranteed the investors a 15 percent rate of return. In fact, many of the properties were located in the depressed real estate market of Detroit, Mich., authorities said. The properties had not been rehabilitated. Many were empty, uninhabitable and vandalized. Some had been condemned, and title was never transferred to investors as promised. Some properties were sold simultaneously to other investors. Anyone with information about Brown’s whereabouts can contact DA’s investigator Santiago Trejo at (408) 808-3757, or call local police. The DA’s Office has set up a hotline dedicated to receiving criminal complaints from the public regarding Bay Area Equity Group, Brown and Kabajouzian, the press release said. The hotline number is (855) 350-7232. Callers will be instructed to leave their contact information, and DA’s office staff will follow up by contacting the callers.