February Kidnapping, Robbery and Carjacking Report is a Sham, Police Say

The February report of a kidnapping, robbery and carjacking on Monterey Street is now being called a sham to cover up a felony embezzlement, police said Thursday.

“The victim is now the suspect,” said Chad Gallacinao of the Gilroy Police Department. “The victim reported that he was robbed, kidnapped and carjacked, [but] now [there’s] evidence to substantiate that the victim provided false information during the investigation. He is now suspected of having embezzled money and filing a false police report in an attempt to cover criminal action.”

The incident, originally reported on Feb. 11, detailed the kidnapping of a 30-year-old man who was carjacked in the parking lot of a business and ultimately abandoned on the side of the freeway. Now, police say they’ve identified that the supposed victim is actually a 22-year-old male from San Jose, Gallacinao said.

Police were able to determine that the initial report was a sham after verifying statements and physical evidence, and learned that the suspect had embezzled more than $5,000 from his employer, Gallacinao said.

The suspect is reportedly avoiding police contact and detectives are working to identify his current location. Police will continue to investigate the incident, and will ask the District’ Attorney’s Office to file criminal charges against the suspect once the investigation is complete.

The kidnapping, robbery and carjacking report filed on Feb. 11 is available below. 

Gilroy police are searching for two suspects who stole a man's car and forced him to ride with them before they dropped him off on the side of a highway in Monterey County on Saturday, police said.

Between 3 and 4 p.m., the 30-year-old man was sitting in his car in the parking lot of a business in the 7600 block of Monterey Street in Gilroy.

Two men armed with handguns approached him and took his cash. One of the men got into the car and ordered the man at gunpoint to drive away. After driving about a mile, the victim was ordered to pull over near the intersection of East 10th Street and U.S. Highway 101.

The other robber arrived in a black car and the victim was ordered to get into the back seat of his own car. The second man got into the car and the three drove onto the highway heading south to an unincorporated area of Monterey County, where the victim was dropped off on the side of the road.

The car was found abandoned nearby at the intersection of Highway
101 and Sanborn Road in Salinas. The suspects were described as two white men, between 23 and 24-years-old, both about 5 feet, 5 inches tall and weighing about 140 pounds. Both were wearing dark hooded sweatshirts and carrying guns, police said.

A third suspect is believed to have been involved, and may have
been driving the car used by the suspects. The victim was uninjured in the incident, police said.

-- The Bay City News contributed to both of these reports.