The Friday night shooting death of Juan Jose Arellano, Jr., 24,
of Hollister, was the third gang-related violent crime in a
four-hour period that also included physical assault of a
16-year-old male at Main and Hale avenues and a stabbing at Tennant
Station, police said. No arrests have been made.
MORGAN HILL
An evening of apparent gang violence culminated in a homicide, the city’s first in four years.
The Friday night shooting death of Juan Jose Arellano, Jr., 24, of Hollister, was the third gang-related violent crime in a four-hour period that also included physical assault of a 16-year-old male at Main and Hale avenues and a stabbing at Tennant Station, police said. No arrests have been made.
Just before 11:20 p.m., an unidentified man approached Arellano, known as “Green Eyes,” and the two exchanged words about where they were from and what gang they might belong to when the suspect shot at Arellano several times, striking him at point-blank range in the upper body, Cmdr. Joe Sampson said.
Witnesses said there were at least two suspects, Hispanic males between 16 and 20 years old and wearing dark blue clothing. Blue is affiliated with the Sureño gang. The suspects fled on foot possibly through nearby Galvin Park. The shooter used a 9 mm handgun. Several casings were found on the ground.
Sampson said the victim and his girlfriend, who were visiting family there, were wearing red at the time. Red is affiliated with the Norteño gang. Arellano was not a validated gang member, but he was affiliated, Sampson said. According to the Times police blotter, Arellano was arrested by Morgan Hill Police in May 2008 for domestic violence.
Witnesses say “Green Eyes” was shot in the head; Sampson could not confirm this.
Several 911 calls were made about 11:20 p.m. and the first officer arrived on scene in five minutes, according to Sampson. Arellano was pronounced dead by county fire at 11:35 p.m.
Morgan Hill Police had all detectives and the Street Crimes Team on the scene and had blocked off Crest at Main Avenue and at Berry Court as well. By 9 a.m. Saturday, Crest was clear again and candles sat at the mailbox in front of 17689 Crest, where the shooting took place. As of Monday morning, red and black balloons suspended in the air above the mailbox at the scene, and candles and flowers were adorned the memorial.
Kristy Martinez, 19, said Arellano was 24, and like family to her.
“He had been arrested. He spent his time in jail and when he got out he stayed away from all this stuff. But (Friday) night, it just caught up with him,” Martinez said.
Martinez said Arellano lived in Hollister with his girlfriend but came up to Crest Avenue Apartments often. She said Juan was a great person, fun and always happy.
“We’re all his family here,” Martinez said.
She was in the laundry room when she heard three gunshots. She said she locked herself in for about 20 minutes and came out to see Arellano on the ground and police and neighbors around.
Sampson said there were more than 10 witnesses outside when police arrived, and multiple calls to 911, but he couldn’t confirm how many eyewitnesses there were to the actual shooting.
A woman who lives in Crest Avenue Apartments and declined to be identified, said Arellano was a very quiet and polite young man.
“It was a shame,” she said. “The first thing I thought of was his parents. They were really close to him, they were always trying to help him out. He was very attached to his mother.”
Before the shooting, police responded to an 8:15 p.m. call from parents who say their 16-year-old son was skateboarding at the bus stop near Main and Hale avenues when he was approached by an unidentified man who asked if he “gang-banged,” and, when the 16-year-old said no, beat him up. He suffered minor injuries, Sampson said. The teen was wearing a red shirt at the time.
Then, at about 9 p.m., Jerry Devito, 31, of Gilroy, was stabbed multiple times by four light brown skinned men while they yelled “Sur” in Spanish. The assault happened between StriXe Lounge and the Safeway store in Tennant Station, Sampson said. Devito, who has a red star tattoo on his face, took a taxi, to Saint Louise Regional Hospital, where they called Gilroy Police. Devito was treated for minor injuries, including a large laceration below his left arm pit, and released Saturday.
No suspects have been identified, Sampson said.
“We’re obviously trying to piece this together. There’s a gang thread through the whole thing,” Sampson said, adding that the Street Crimes Team had no indication of impending gang violence. Likewise, the school resource officers, who sometimes anticipate weekend gang activity, saw no warning of violence to come, Sampson said.
“This one came out of the blue,” he said. Sampson said investigations such as these take a few days. “It’s like when you start a puzzle, you start out with the border, and then you fill it in.”
Sampson said police were confident they’d be making arrests shortly and that Friday’s violence was an “aberration.”
“Over the last year, overall crime has been down, including assault, violent crime and crimes against a person,” Sampson said. “People might start to ask, ‘Is this a gang war?’ But in actuality it’s been very peaceful these past six or eight months. We’ve cleared the streets of major players with some great proactive work.”
Sampson said police are backtracking to see if there were any signs that gang activity would peak Friday, including checking parole and probation officers to see if there were any prison orders “on high” to the gangs.
Sampson said amped up police forces “clearly had an impact” Saturday night, when there were no reported violent crimes.
Addressing a perception by some community members that law enforcement doesn’t care about gang violence, Sampson said the police take all incidents seriously.
“We don’t want this kind of activity in our community,” he said.
Just a few blocks east on Monterey Road, weekend revelry continued unabated Friday night.
Sarah Brodsky, 25, and friends were patronizing Legends Bar and Grill and heard nothing, not even the helicopters that circled over the downtown and west Morgan Hill area from about midnight to 1 a.m.
“Wow. That’s crazy,” the San Martin resident said as she stood outside the bar with friends. About 25 bar patrons milled around Legends and M&H Tavern across the street. “I’m not surprised though. There’s a lot of gang violence around here.”
Morgan Hill Police were supplemented with San Jose Police and Santa Clara County Sheriffs officers, including a helicopter and a K-9 unit. Morgan Hill’s own K-9 unit, Pax, was unavailable because his handler is recovering from an injury.
The last homicide in Morgan Hill was four years ago. Luis Santos Bautista, 19, of Gilroy, was shot and killed Sept. 30, 2005, behind the Safeway grocery store in Tennant Station. Bautista was suspected to be a member of the Sureño gang. Anthony James Frausto, a Norteño, was convicted of the crime in 2007.
Anyone with details about this incident can call Morgan Hill Police at 779-2101.
