Suspects accused of tying, robbing SJB residents
A judge has set bail at $600,000 for the Gilroy man accused of
attempted murder, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon against
a peace officer in connection with a home invasion early Sunday
morning and a subsequent showdown with sheriff’s deputies a few
miles down the road.
Suspects accused of tying, robbing SJB residents
A judge has set bail at $600,000 for the Gilroy man accused of attempted murder, robbery and assault with a deadly weapon against a peace officer in connection with a home invasion early Sunday morning and a subsequent showdown with sheriff’s deputies a few miles down the road.
The district attorney’s office Tuesday charged Robert A. Gidding, 26, with the three counts and special allegations with each suspected offense for having prior “serious or violent” felony convictions, according to court documents and the California Penal Code.
Authorities suspect Gidding and another man arrested last Sunday, Joaquin McKenzie, also age 26, robbed the two residents of a home off Highway 156 near San Juan Bautista after they tied and bound the victims, according to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies later located the two men a few miles away on the 2200 block of San Juan-Hollister Road.
There, they arrested McKenzie, but were forced to fire about 15 rounds into a vehicle driving toward two deputies. The driver, whom they believe was Gidding, escaped for about five hours before a Hollister Police officer recognized him and arrested the suspect while on a suspicious person call.
Prosecutors had yet to charge McKenzie as of press time. He posted his $20,000 bond Sunday and was released from jail. He likely faces less severe charges than Gidding because he did not take part in the alleged attempted murder. He also does not have any felonies on his record, at least in San Benito County.
Those special allegations against Gidding, meanwhile, could add a year to a potential sentence if he is convicted of any charges.
Gidding’s prior serious convictions included one in 2002 for arson in Santa Clara County and another in 2005 for unlawfully taking a vehicle in San Benito County, according to court records.
Gidding has been in custody at the San Benito County Jail since his arrest Sunday morning in Hollister.
The judge at Tuesday’s hearing set Gidding’s bail at $600,000 and scheduled a preliminary examination hearing for 1:30 p.m. June 10.
According to authorities, sheriff’s deputies responded at about 12:25 a.m. Sunday. The two victims reported they were awakened and bound and tied with zip ties, said sheriff’s Lt. Roy Iler, who could not provide more specific details. The victims described the suspects as wearing all black, and they reported $80 and a cell phone stolen after the home invasion, Iler said.
Deputies actually found the two suspects Sunday about three miles from the scene of the alleged incident.
McKenzie, wearing all black, started to walk up a driveway when officers apprehended him. While they were doing so, the black vehicle approached.
With three deputies on scene – including the arresting officer – the vehicle accelerated toward one of the officers in the road.
That deputy and another one then fired into the vehicle as it drove by, and one of them shot out a front tire on the vehicle, Iler said.
A fourth deputy arriving on the scene later found the vehicle abandoned nearby. But the suspect had escaped by that point, the spokesman said, only to be arrested hours later when a resident reported seeing Gidding dressed in black behind a Jeep in a driveway.The two residents of the invaded home have identified the vehicle as the same one used in the invasion, Iler said. They could not I.D. the two suspects, they said, because it was dark.
