GILROY
– Police are still looking four to six men – possibly gang
members – who attacked two brothers at a Gilroy hotel Friday
morning, leaving the two men each with several puncture wounds to
their chest and abdomens.
GILROY – Police are still looking four to six men – possibly gang members – who attacked two brothers at a Gilroy hotel Friday morning, leaving the two men each with several puncture wounds to their chest and abdomens.
Police are also looking for a motive to the assault, but coming up with more questions than answers.
“We are not sure what the motive is at this time,” said Jack Robinson, a Gilroy Police Department sergeant. “We’ve discovered that there were two people in the hotel room with the brothers earlier in the night, one male and one female, but we have been unable to contact them for interviews.”
Brothers Gerardo Mendoza, 34, of Hollister, and Jose Mendoza, 25, of Gilroy, were transported to San Jose Medical Center Friday morning and Robinson said he believes they have both been released from the hospital, although SJMC officials would not confirm the Mendozas’ status.
Police said Friday that drugs or prostitution could be possible motives for the attack, but they wouldn’t confirm either. However, police did say Monday that it appeared the attackers were gang members.
“We’re still trying to figure out why they were there in the first place,” Robinson said of the brothers. “55 dollars a night is a lot of money to spend on a room for living so close.”
According to Garlic Farm Inn Manager Pabitra Ghimire, the Mendoza brothers checked into the hotel at 5920 Travel Park Circle at 12:48 a.m. Friday.
The brothers said they answered a knock on their door just after 6 a.m., and the unknown men crashed in through the door and began to hit them with claw hammers. Police haven’t confirmed if that is really what the weapon was, Robinson said. Police officers searched the room and the area surrounding the inn, but did not find any weapon.
No hotel visitors witnessed the attack; the surrounding rooms at the inn, which was about half full, were unoccupied. The Mendozas’ second-floor room, room 211, faces the Garlic Farm Plaza gas station and truck stop, and investigators hope that someone outside the hotel might have seen something.
“Hopefully, someone will come forward with some information,” Robinson said.
Anyone with information can contact GPD Detective Dan Zen at 846-0335.
