A family connection ignited a three-hour standoff Saturday in
Gilroy between a SWAT team and two Chico murder suspects who are
accused of burning a 21-year-old man. Chico residents Antonio
Linarez-Montes, 19, and Timothy Miles Nunez, 18, were arrested at a
condominium complex in the 7000 block of Monterey Road more than
three hours after a Gilroy-Morgan Hill regional SWAT team rolled to
the scene in an armored tactical vehicle and ordered the suspects
to surrender.
A family connection ignited a three-hour standoff Saturday in Gilroy between a SWAT team and two Chico murder suspects who are accused of burning a 21-year-old man.
“They knew people there,” said Sgt. Scott Franssen with the Chico Police Department. “There was a family connection.”
Chico residents Antonio Linarez-Montes, 19, and Timothy Miles Nunez, 18, were arrested at a condominium complex in the 7000 block of Monterey Road more than three hours after a Gilroy-Morgan Hill regional SWAT team rolled to the scene in an armored tactical vehicle and ordered the suspects to surrender. The standoff ended after Linarez-Montes and Nunez gave themselves up to police by walking out of the residence of a family member, tucked away from the main road between Ninth and 10th streets.
The suspects remained in custody in the Santa Clara County Main Jail as of Monday afternoon, according to the GPD. They are awaiting extradition back to Butte County.
While the SWAT team waited for the suspects, police also detained four other individuals – including the family member of one of the suspects – after they surrendered from the building. They were later released without charges because the GPD determined they did not know the suspects were fugitives, Sgt. Chad Gallacinao said.
The operation temporarily closed businesses and forced the evacuation of residents in the street’s 7000 block.
Paul Singh, owner of Cheers Liquors, said Saturday’s SWAT operation forced his store to close for the first time since it opened almost two years ago.
“They said they were looking for somebody,” Singh said. “That’s all I knew.”
Singh said his store was closed from 10 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
There were no injuries to police or the suspects, according to Gallacinao.
The two suspects are wanted in connection with the murder of 21-year-old Jose Barajas Sanchez, whose burned body was discovered by law enforcement officers Thursday under a bridge in Chico, according to police. Chico authorities said Sanchez, who had been reported as a missing person the day before, had been placed under the bridge and burned.
After an investigation, Linarez-Montes and Nunez were tabbed as suspects and separate $1 million warrants for their arrest were obtained, police said.
Chico police then determined the suspects had fled to an address in Gilroy and notified the GPD on Friday night, Gallacinao said.
Saturday morning, police activated the regional SWAT team comprised of more than 20 Gilroy and Morgan Hill police officers.
Backed by the protection of a BearCat – a recently purchased armored tactical vehicle – police waited several hours for the suspects to surrender from the condominium, which sits directly south of and behind Pinocchio’s Pizza No. 2.
Police apprehended the murder suspects just before 11 a.m.
A SWAT team member was seen holding a small child who had been taken from the residence. Because a crime was not committed by those living with the suspects, the child was returned, Gallacinao said Monday.
The GPD is expected to pay for the operation, according to Gallacinao. He said did not know much the operation would cost.
Saturday’s standoff turned a short stretch of Monterey Road into a military-style scene.
Camouflage-clad officers armed with law-enforcement versions of AR-15 rifles were huddled around the BearCat in the courtyard directly outside the doors leading to the row of condominium homes.
An officer using a loud bullhorn repeatedly called for the suspects to come out.
It was the first time local law enforcement used the $285,000 vehicle since it was delivered Jan. 26 to the GPD. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department obtained the vehicle through an Urban Area Security Initiative Program grant.
Police closed nearby businesses and the California Highway Patrol arrived just before 10 a.m. to block off Monterey Road between Ninth and 10th streets. A command post was set up in the Valley Transportation Authority station parking lot.
GPD Chief Denise Turner said the area was not a trouble spot for Gilroy.
“It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood,” she said.
Luis Melgosa, who works in the Herbalife Nutrition Club near the condominium complex, said police told him to close the store and leave the area “for safety.”
Melgosa said police had visited the complex several times in the past, but nothing like Saturday’s SWAT operation.
“We never had to be evacuated before,” he said.
