Two Carjackings Took Place Over the Weekend

Two carjackings took place over the weekend in Gilroy with .

On Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8:53 p.m. two male suspects carrying firearms approached a man sitting in his car in the parking lot of El Charrito Market on Monterey St.

One suspect got into the car and ordered the victim to drive away. After about a mile, the victim was ordered to pull over near the intersection of East 10th St. and Highway 101.

A second suspect arrived in a black car and the victim was ordered into the back seat of his own vehicle. The second suspect got into the car and the three drove south into an unincorporated area of Monterey County. The suspects left the victim there on the side of the road. They abandoned his car at another location in Monterey County.

Sergeant Chad Gallacinao of the said that there appears to have been three people involved in the robbery and kidnapping. The third suspect appears to have been following in a secondary vehicle.

The victim is a 25-year old male, Gallacinao said, who sustained no injuries during the incident. The suspects remain at large.

“This is still an ongoing case,” Gallacinao said. “The police department is still continuing to investigate the incident.”

The victim's vehicle has been impounded for evidentiary purposes, according to Gallacinao. The suspects stole an undisclosed amount of money from the victim along with other personal items worth over $1,600. At this time, the motive is unknown.

Gallacinao would not speculate as to why the suspects would kidnap the victim only to abadon him and his vehicle because he did not want to compromise the investigation.

Target Carjacking

On Thursday, Feb. 9, at 3:34 p.m. two male suspects approached a 24-year old female and an 18-year old male as they were walking towards their car in the parking lot of the Target at 6705 Camino Arroyo. The suspects took the victims' vehicle by physical force.

The vehicle was recovered in the unincorporated area of Gilroy, near the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. The vehicle has been impounded for evidence, Gallacinao said, and the suspects are still at large. A debit card, a computer, a Sony Playstation and a Garmin GPS were stolen from the vehicle, according to the police press report.

While the weekend saw two carjackings in the course of three days, the incidents do not appear to be related.

“Based on the evidence we have, it appears these two carjackings are unassociated,” Gallacinao said. “They are completely different incidents in the way that they occurred. One involved a kidnapping, an undisclosed amount of money and a firearm. One didn’t.”

Gallacinao called Saturday’s robbery and kidnapping “an egregious crime” and said that the police department will continue investigating both incidences.

“We had [carjackings] happen twice this weekend,” he said. “I’m not aware of two incidences as egregious as these two happening in awhile.”