An armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping that supposedly happened Feb. 10 on the 7600 block of Monterey Street near Fourth Street downtown was an elaborate lie to cover up what law enforcement now alleges is a case of felony embezzlement and filing a false police report.
The suspect, for whom there is no official description in the press release issued today by the Gilroy Police Department, is avoiding police contact as detectives work to identify his current location, police say.
After claiming last month to have been robbed while sitting in his car in the parking lot of a business on the 7600 block of Monterey Street, kidnapped and later dropped off on the side of the highway in the unincorporated area of Monterey County, police say the suspect allegedly “provided false information in an attempt to conceal his embezzlement of the undisclosed amount of funds from his employer.”
Detectives have verified that the kidnapping, robbery and carjacking was “unfounded” and did not occur as it was originally reported to the GPD, according to the press release.Â
The real victim is now described as a 22-year-old female who lives in San Jose.
The investigation is ongoing and will be submitted to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office requesting criminal charges be filed against the suspect when complete, according to the press release.Â
Here is the original incident as the Dispatch first reported, which law officials now say is untrue:
An armed robbery, carjacking and kidnapping occurred between 3 and 4 p.m. Saturday, when two males suspects armed with handguns robbed a 30-year-old male on the 7600 block of Monterey Street near Fourth Street in downtown Gilroy.
Two suspects are described as white males between the ages of 23 and 24, weighing 140 pounds and measuring around 5-feet-5-inches. Both were allegedly wearing dark hooded sweatshirts, black gloves and were armed with black handguns, police say. A third suspect, for whom there is no description, is also listed in a press report released by the Gilroy Police Department. All three suspects are still at large.
The victim was sitting in his car in the parking lot of a business on the 7600 block of Monterey Street when the crime occurred, according to the GPD. Police say one suspect got into the victim’s car, forcing the victim to drive while the suspect held the victim at gunpoint.
After driving a short distance, the victim was forced to pull over on the side of the road near the intersection of East 10th Street and U.S. Highway 101. The second suspect then arrived in a black car (there is no further description for the vehicle). The victim was ordered to get into the backseat of his own vehicle. The second suspect got into the victim’s car and drove the trio onto U.S. Highway 101 southbound. The victim was driven to an unincorporated area of Monterey County, where he was dropped off on the side of the freeway, police say.
The suspects drove away, but abandoned the victim’s car a short time later near the intersection of U.S. Highway 101 and Sanborn Road in Salinas, where it was later recovered. The victim was not injured during the incident. A third suspect (who was driving the suspects’ car) is believed to be involved in the crimes but there is no description of the driver at this time, according to the GPD.
