Saturday night was a wild one for Morgan Hill Police, with three
calls to an out-of-control party complicating an investigation into
a fall by an 18-month-old child from a two-story window.
Saturday night was a wild one for Morgan Hill Police, with three calls to an out-of-control party complicating an investigation into a fall by an 18-month-old child from a two-story window.
“Our resources were stretched a little thin,” MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson said Monday.
Officers responded to 115 Cosmo Ave. at about 9 p.m. when a passer-by found the young girl lying on the ground crying. The person located the apartment the child had apparently fallen from and knocked on the door to tell occupants.
“At that point, someone who was apparently the mother told officers she had been in the room with the child, other children and friends watching TV, and didn’t know the child had fallen,” Sampson said. “It is not clear at this time why she didn’t notice the child had fallen.”
In the initial investigation, officers were told the child had apparently crawled onto the window sill and leaned against the screen, pushing it out and falling onto the ground two-stories below.
Sampson said the child was flown by medical helicopter Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, where she was kept overnight for observation and released Sunday with no apparent injuries.
“She will be back and forth to the hospital over the next few weeks for observation,” he said. “Meanwhile, we will be continuing our investigation for possible child endangerment. We need to establish some other factors to determine whether this was an accident or something else. CPS (Child Protective Services) will join us in the investigation.”
Sampson said no decision will be made on the filing of charges until after further investigation.
As officers at the Village Avange Apartment complex were investigating the fall, neighbors of a residence on the other side of town called police to report a loud party. When officers arrived, they found approximately 200 partiers and told the adult son of the owners of the residence – who were out of town – to keep the party under control.
However, a short time later neighbors called police to complain that the party was still going on and very loud. When officers arrived, they issued a citation to the adult son, whose name was unavailable at press time, for violation of a municipal code prohibiting loud parties, Sampson said.
The third time officers responded it was in response to a call from a neighbor at approximately 11:45 p.m. When officers arrived at the residence, they found many of the partiers engaged in “mutual combat,” according to Sampson.
“It was a 20-something group, but there were some minors drinking alcohol, and officers were fully occupied contacting their parents and transporting them home, as well as trying to break up the party and get people to leave,” he said.
MHPD officers called for assistance. Six CHP officers and three deputies from the Sheriff’s Office helped break up the party.
Anthony Borges, 21, of Morgan Hill, was cited and released charged with vandalism.
“Borges was in a struggle with another individual, and a couple of other people got involved, fighting with each other, we’re not sure why,” said Sampson. “In an attempt to get to the other individual, Borges ripped the door off a Camaro and pulled out part of the dashboard.”
There were no other arrests and no reported injuries. Police had taken Borges into custody for resisting arrest in another party incident April 24. He was 20 at the time. Sampson said officers cited and released Borges instead of taking him into custody because there was several factors involved.
“Of course, felony charges go to county jail, and these were misdemeanors.” he said. “And our officers have to weigh the circumstances, also based on how cooperative the suspect is … Our officers said, in this instance, he didn’t resist or fight but cooperated with the officers’ directives.”
Sampson also said the available manpower played a role in the decision.
“We had officers contacting the parents of the minors as well as transporting them to their homes. We still had the investigation into the baby fall going on,” he said. “It would have meant taking at least one officer out of the city for an hour or two to take him to jail, and the situation didn’t seem to warrant it.”
