Detectives located a significant cache of stolen property
Wednesday morning from the Feb. 6 home invasion on Rucker Avenue,
which involved the violent torture and assault of Gilroyan Gary
Wise. Full article
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Detectives located a significant cache of stolen property Wednesday morning from the Feb. 6 home invasion on Rucker Avenue, which involved the violent torture and assault of Gilroyan Gary Wise.
According to a press release, detectives with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office conducted a search of suspect Ernesto Gonzalez’s apartment unit in west San Jose and discovered several secret compartments hidden beneath the carpeted floor. The stashed items included more than 20 handguns, 40 rifles and various collectibles, authorities say.
Pictures provided by police show carpet peeled away, revealing bare flooring and a hoard of clandestine treasures. One recovered assault rifle was stolen from a Sunnyvale residence in a separate residential burglary case, police say.
“He is happy, I heard,” said Sgt. Rick Sung, who added the logistics of returning Wise’s property depend on the status of the court case. “Detectives will decide.”
The plea dates for suspects Juvenal Reyes, Juan Fonseca, Gonzalez, Norberto Serna and Danny Rivera have been moved to 1:30 p.m. June 14. The hearing will take place at the South County Morgan Hill Courthouse on 301 Diana Ave. Their charges include conspiracy, attempted murder and torture.
Recovery of the property could mean putting closure to the case, Sung said.
“This development came after detectives spent countless hours conducting follow-up investigation and interviews in an attempt to locate the stolen guns to prevent these weapons from landing in the wrong hands,” Sung said.
According to police reports, Wise, 59, arrived at his home at about 9 p.m. Feb. 6 when three male suspects ambushed him. The suspects then tied him up and tortured him, pouring chemical substances over his body and face and beating him with pool cues until he lost consciousness.
The suspects made off with Wise’s personal collections including various guns, stamps, coins and playing cards according to Sung. They also stole the victim’s pickup truck in the area of highways 9 and 35 outside of the City of Saratoga, Sung said.
Beginning at 6:30 a.m. May 3, a string of sweeping search warrants and arrests took place at the residences of Gonzales and Fonseca at the 3800 block of Williams Road in San Jose, Rivera’s residence at the 2900 block of Park Lane in San Jose, the 900 block of Rucker Avenue in Gilroy for Reyes and the 100 block of Miramonte Avenue in Morgan Hill for Serna.
One juvenile, whose name was not released, was also arrested according to Sung.
Sung noted “our office also would like to credit the DA’s office, and allied law enforcement agencies such as San Jose Police, Gilroy Police, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, the U.S. Marshals Service and the ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) for their unwavering assistance.”
