Crime & Safety
Pot Grow Suspect Shot by Police Due in Court
Alvaro Sanchez, the only suspect caught in a marijuana garden raid near Mount Madonna County Park last month, faces three felony charges.
is set to appear in court Friday to enter pleas on three felony charges, according to Sgt. Jose Cardoza of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department.
Alvaro Sanchez, 24, of Morgan Hill faces charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful cultivation of marijuana tied to a June 28 bust off Highway 152 near the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz county line.
The Sheriff's Marijuana Enforcement Team and state Fish and Game Department wardens had hiked into the 3,400-plant operation the morning of June 28 to count and remove the plants when they encountered Sanchez and the second suspect.
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Sanchez was shot in the arm when a Sheriff's deputy and a warden opened fire. He and the second suspect, described only as a "possibly Hispanic" man by Cardoza, fled into the surrounding woods before Sanchez surrendered to authorities. The second suspect remains at large.
"There are no leads as to who he is or where he is," Cardoza said of Sanchez's accomplice. "The investigation is ongoing and it is unclear if the second person will ever be found."
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The street value of the marijuana found during the raid .
Sanchez has been in custody at Santa Clara County Jail since his arrest. His bail is set at $500,000.
Sanchez's court appearance is at 9:30 a.m., Friday, in Department 23 at the Hall of Justice in San Jose, Cardoza said.
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