Three teenagers on a violent afternoon crime spree were arrested in Gilroy Monday after a high-speed chase ended in a crash, according to police.
About 5:55pm May 7, a victim reported an armed carjacking on the 8500 block of Kern Avenue in west Gilroy, according to Gilroy Police Sgt. Jason Smith. Three males ordered the victim and his passenger out of the victim’s vehicle at gunpoint.
The suspects tried to flee in the victim’s car, but the driver kept the electronic key fob, preventing the suspects from taking his vehicle, police said. The suspects then fled in their own car, a Chevrolet Malibu. The victim followed behind and called 911.
While following the suspects at high speeds, the victim noticed the suspect vehicle throw a gun out of the window at Santa Teresa Boulevard and the Uvas Creek Bridge, police said. This information was relayed to police, who later recovered a firearm in the specified area. The Santa Clara County Search and Rescue Team helped Gilroy Police recover the firearm.
The victim continued to follow the suspects to Santa Teresa Boulevard and Mesa Road, according to Smith. The carjackers’ vehicle crashed into a tree in the front yard of a home on the 5400 block of Mesa Road, just north of Gavilan College.
After crashing, the suspects fled the area on foot in different directions. Police captured them a short distance away, Smith said.
Two of the suspects are 17-year-old juveniles. The other was identified as Tristan Scally, 18, of Hollister, according to police.
Police think the three suspects were involved in a series of similar crimes prior to the carjacking, and are being investigated for their involvement in the other incidents. The other crimes are:
- An attempted carjacking at 5:05pm on the 600 block of Bolsa Road. A victim reported a similar suspect vehicle forced him to stop and shot at the victim’s vehicle, police said. Gilroy Police investigators later recovered a bullet that was lodged in the vehicle.
- At 5:30pm, a victim reported being chased by four males with a gun associated to a vehicle similar to that of the Malibu, in the area of Forest and Lewis streets.
- At 5:45pm, a woman reported she was the victim of an attempted carjacking in which a passenger of a vehicle similar to the suspects’ Malibu pointed a gun at her head.
Gilroy Police are investigating the crimes as gang-related. The investigation into all four cases is ongoing, police said.
Anyone with information about the incidents or the suspects can call Gilroy Police Department at (408) 846-0350.
