Police in standoff with wanted man at hotel
Suspect wanted on felony warrants refuses to surrender
SAN JOSE >> A man sought by police on multiple felony warrants remained holed up inside a South San Jose hotel room Monday night.
San Jose police went to the Wyndham Garden San Jose Silicon Valley, on Silicon Valley Boulevard near the Highway 101-Highway 85 connector, around 2:25 p.m. Sunday to contact a man who had several warrants issued for his arrest.
But the man instead barricaded himself inside a room and refused to surrender, police said. Officers with the MERGE unit — San Jose’s version of SWAT — worked Sunday into Monday to coax out the man peacefully.
“We have been in contact with the individual, we have been talking to him virtually all night,” Capt. Jason Dwyer said Monday. “Negotiations have not been necessarily bad. We haven’t made a lot of progress, but he has not made necessarily any threats at this point. We’re continuing to negotiate, we don’t want to force a confrontation with the individual.”
Police did not comment on reports from witnesses and staff that the suspect was holding someone hostage, but a law-enforcement source said the incident was being treated as a potential hostage situation. That stemmed from uncertainty about whether a companion of the suspect was being kept from leaving.
An upper floor of the hotel was closed off by police. Other guests on the floor were relocated either to other rooms or sent to a nearby hotel.
Santa Clara County Sheriff’s deputies were on the scene to assist with the response and relieve weary officers as the standoff approached a full day in length.
There appeared to be no imminent public danger posed by the standoff, police said.