Police staked out an apparent migrant camp east of Morgan Hill
for several hours Tuesday, hoping to catch at least one of the two
murder suspects who stabbed a 26-year-old man to death March 16
outside El Rio Nilo in downtown.
Police staked out an apparent migrant camp east of Morgan Hill for several hours Tuesday, hoping to catch at least one of the two murder suspects who stabbed a 26-year-old man to death March 16 outside El Rio Nilo in downtown.
Gilroy Police Department Detective Stan Devlin cruised up and down Cochrane Road in an unmarked car for several hours Tuesday afternoon while another officer sat in an unmarked SUV up the road. They were waiting for one of the suspects to arrive because police had reason to believe he stays in what appeared to be an agricultural camp.
No visible arrests or stops were made between 5 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., though, and police declined to say Wednesday morning whether they made any arrests earlier that day or throughout the evening, or whether they discovered any relevant evidence.
Sunday stabbing in the street
About 1:15 a.m. March 16, Juan DeDios Arvizu Cabrera, 26, of Castroville, was involved in a fight outside of El Rio Nilo, between Martin and Sixth streets on Monterey Street when he was stabbed, police and witnesses said. Cabrera staggered east on Martin Street and collapsed near the railroad tracks, about a half block away, witnesses said. Cabrera was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Another man, Adan Arvizu Cabrera, 23, of Salinas, was also involved in the fight and suffered non-life threatening knife wounds, police said. He was taken to an area hospital to be treated and is scheduled to be released later today.
Police are searching for a gold or dark tan Chrysler Sebring convertible with a black top that was driven away from the scene of the stabbing death by one of two suspects. A witness said that the license plate has two characters, then MZ23, then an additional character, police said.
The witness also threw a flashlight through the passenger window of the car, breaking it, police said. The rear passenger window might also have been broken.
Police are also searching for another vehicle – a silver pickup truck with double tires on the rear axle – that drove away from the scene of the stabbing death after the convertible.
It was about 1:15 a.m. and Bob Tapella, owner of Garlic City Billiards, had already closed up shop for the night when he saw a bunch of security guards running north on Monterey Street following a car, he said. The car went to Fifth Street and then hung a left, speeding out of sight westbound.
Hearing screams coming from behind his business, he headed out the back door of the billiard’s parlor and saw three people in the middle of Martin Street near its intersection with the railroad tracks – less than a block east of Monterey Street and downtown.
Juan Cabrera was lying spread eagle on his back, his feet facing westward.
“He had a white shirt and his whole shirt was full of blood,” Tapella said of the 26-year-old.
Tapella rushed over to Juan Cabrera, who was still moving and talking but quickly losing his mental faculties, he said. Two other men – also covered in blood and one of whom was possibly Adan Cabrera – knelt above the 26-year-old, crying and wailing.
Adan and Juan Cabrera and the two suspects in the stabbing death might have been inside the club – located at 7474 Monterey St. – and were kicked out of it, Tapella said.
At 1:18 a.m., Tapella called police and told them of the stabbing. At that point, several security guards from Rio Nilo and the owner of the club were outside with him and the three men.
Police arrived soon after – while Juan Cabrera was still alive – but firefighters and ambulances did not arrive for at least 10 minutes, Tapella said.
“It sure took a while for those guys to show,” he said.
Juan Cabrera was later pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Police are searching for two suspects in the stabbings – a white or Hispanic adult male who was wearing a blue, button-down shirt and another man for whom police did not release a description.
The convertible that police are searching for had been parked on the south side of Martin Street about halfway between the railroad tracks and Monterey Street, Tapella said.
Tapella did not know where the truck was parked but said it also sped west on Martin Street, north on Monterey Street and then west on Fifth Street. The truck had a silver toolbox in the back, Tapella said.
Personnel at Rio Nilo would not comment on the incident until they talked with police. Police have not returned phone calls.
Few murders, but both downtown
The death of the 26-year-old is the only murder of 2008 and the first murder in Gilroy almost 11 months. However, both attacks occurred downtown about three blocks apart.
“Last year – murder downtown,” Tapella said this afternoon while walking over the crime scene, pointing out the details of the incident and waving to people walking and biking by. “This year – murder downtown. It’s not good.”
Mayor Al Pinheiro said he would work with police to figure out what, if any, new security measures should be employed downtown, but right now he said he trusted police to investigate the incident before he or the council made any premature recommendations.
The murder last year occured early in the morning of April 29, 2007, when 56-year-old Juan Lugo was found in an alley behind La Colonia Latina, located on Monterey Street between Eighth and Old Gilroy streets. Lugo, whose body was riddled with stab wounds, lay next to his bluish 10-speed bicycle, on which he was known to circle downtown, neighbors and police said.
Police have been unable to find a motive for the killing. Lugo, from whom nothing was stolen – not even the cash in his wallet – was widely rumored to be gay, Lugo’s son said, but police have not investigated the case as a hate crime.
In mid-May, police arrested 21-year-old Tomas Martinez Romero and turned him over to the district attorney, who charged him with murder. However, the charge was dropped two months later. Romero is now being charged with two counts of attempted murder and other charges in an unrelated shooting.
This morning, police again set up a crime scene in downtown, blocking off Martin Street from Monterey Street to Railroad Street so they could collect evidence. Among other things, police towed away two cars – one of which had two spots of blood on it – to put into evidence and firefighters hosed down the scene so that there was no sign of blood, Tapella said.
Due to the block being cordoned off, OD’s Kitchen closed for the day and put up a sign saying it would reopen Monday morning.
Other local business owners and developers worry that two murders downtown in less than a year will drive away potential customers and business owners.
The murder is “a black eye for the downtown,” said developer Gary Walton, who owns the building at the intersection of Martin and Monterey streets where a skate shop now sits. “It gives the impression that the downtown is not that safe” – an unfair conclusion when Gilroy’s crime rates are compared to other nearby cities, he said.
Despite the murder, Rio Nilo was open again tonight about 10 p.m., with loud Spanish music blasting out the doors, manned by two security guards. The guards frisked all the men – a practice that was in place before this morning’s incident, guards said – in the cowboy hat-donning crowd before stamping their hand and letting them inside.
With Rio Nilo and other bars still drawing a crowd, business owners believe that a potential for crime will continue to exist due to the outpouring of revelers that occurs when bars close at 2 a.m. every Friday and Saturday.
“You have an area that definitely needs more police patrols, particularly when these bars are getting out,” Walton said.
How you can help
Anyone with information regarding this case can contact Gilroy Police Department Detective Stan Devlin at 846-0335. Those wishing to remain anonymous may call and leave information at 846-0330.
