Detectives believe the suspect is also connected to December
incidents
Gilroy – Detectives linked one suspect to the armed robberies of two convenience stores Saturday night where one clerk was shot in the leg, and believe the man may be connected to two additional Gilroy robberies that occurred early last month. Police are offering a reward for information leading to the conviction of the man. Meanwhile, local store owners remain on edge until the man is captured.
“We’re assuming they are connected,” said Detective Dan Zen. “It’s awfully coincidental.”
The pattern of the crimes and suspect descriptions witnesses provided have led police to believe the same individual may have robbed Apatzingan Meat Market and Del Sol Market the night of Dec. 1.
On Saturday, a clerk at Hecker Pass Mini Mart at 389 First St., was shot in the leg during the robbery. The man, who is in his 30s, underwent surgery at a San Jose area hospital. By Tuesday afternoon, he was at home and walking. He is expected to make a full recovery.
Eleven minutes after the initial incident, a second armed robbery was reported from about one mile away at Cheers Liquors at 7051 Monterey St. This is the second time the store has been hit. Last year, police apprehended a band of Mexican Nationals traveling from Hayward to Lodi robbing Mexican markets. They were later charged with robbing Cheers.
“We think that a white Honda was involved in the Cheers robbery,” Zen said, citing that the model was probably from 1998 to 2002.
Witnesses described the suspect to be in his early 20s, 5-feet, 9-inches tall and wearing a ski mask and dark hooded sweatshirt.
The description is similar to the suspect in the Dec. 1 robberies when a male in his 20s, wearing jeans, white shoes, a dark gray hooded sweatshirt, gloves and a black ski mask, entered two markets, brandished a handgun and demanded money. The two robberies were reported within 10 minutes of each other – and are located about a mile apart.
“This was the first time the guy actually fired the gun and that’s scary,” Zen said. “He may have got nervous, who knows? We won’t know until we catch him.”
Both Cheers and Hecker Pass Mini Market were open for business Tuesday.
“We are a family-run business,” said the owner of Cheers, who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s a dangerous job.”
He admitted that at times running the store is scary.
“This would be our second time getting robbed,” he said.
He is not the only person feeling uneasy about the shooting.
Three years ago, J-V Liquors owner Allan Sulaiman was stabbed multiple times by two young robbers at his store and ended up with a $17,000 medical bill.
“The only thing that saved my life was a bottle of champagne for $5.99,” he said, describing how he fought off the two attackers. “You just cross your fingers. What are you going to do? I’m very nervous at night, it gets dark earlier. I don’t know what those guys would do … If I were the chief of police this would be my top priority.”
Looking across the street at Hecker Pass Mini Mart, Sulaiman grew angry. The neighboring stores try to look out for one another.
“They shot the guy next door. I’m boiling,” he said. “It’s close to home.”
Sulaiman wants police to bump up patrols at night and stop to question suspicious-looking individuals.
“He’s from the neighborhood around here,” he speculated, because the robber took off on foot.
He pointed out that most police descriptions of robbers have the same characteristics: Baggy sweatshirts, hoods and hats. That’s why he gets put on edge when people dressed like that enter his store. Now he asks individuals who enter his store wearing sweatshirts with the hood pulled up to remove it or leave.
“The police can’t be parked outside every convenience store in Gilroy,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense … But it does make sense to stop every person who looks like a robber.”
Police are reviewing tapes from previous robberies and trying to print out a photo of the suspect.
Anyone with information regarding these cases may contact Detective Dan Zen at 846-0350. Individuals wishing to remain anonymous may call 846-0346.
