The Mercury News

Police: Parolee found with ghost guns, linked to shooting

Arrest made after manhunt, then standoff after allegedly being seen with firearm

- By Robert Salonga rsalonga@bayareanew­sgroup.com

SAN JOSE >> A man who police say touched off a neighborho­od manhunt Monday after he was seen with a gun, then stalemated police overnight by holing up in his Alum Rock home, was arrested on suspicion of having ghost guns as a parolee, authoritie­s said.

After his arrest, investigat­ors linked him to a March 11 attack in which he is accused of shooting and wounding a woman through her bedroom door inside a home a few blocks away, according to San Jose police.

Jesse Joseph Sanchez, 39, was taken into custody early Tuesday following an hourslong standoff in which he refused to come out of a home he shared with several roommates on Millar Avenue, off Alum Rock Avenue just north of South White Road.

Sanchez prompted police attention late Monday morning after someone saw him walking near his home with what looked like a gun in his waistband. Responding officers spotted him and also reported seeing a gun, and police said Sanchez ran away to his home.

Within an hour, police surrounded the home and shut down Alum Rock Avenue traffic for a couple of blocks surroundin­g Millar Avenue. His housemates were evacuated, and tactical teams and police negotiator­s worked to coax him into surrenderi­ng.

At one point during the stalemate, Sanchez fired at least one shot inside the home, police said. About 3:10 a.m. Tuesday, nearly 15 hours after the first gun sighting, he was arrested.

Police said officers recovered two ghost guns — firearms assembled partly or entirely from prefabrica­ted parts that often make them untraceabl­e — and live ammunition associated with Sanchez, which would be a violation of his parole status. Informatio­n about the conviction that is the basis of his parole could not be immediatel­y accessed by this news organizati­on Wednesday.

Police since have connected Sanchez to a March 11 shooting on East Hills Drive, a few blocks away from his home. Investigat­ors contend that Sanchez shot through a bedroom door and wounded a woman, who was taken to a local hospital and was expected to survive. Sanchez then reportedly fled; police did not disclose if or how Sanchez knew the victim.

Sanchez was being held with

out bail after he was booked into the Elmwood men’s jail in Milpitas on suspicion of possessing a firearm and ammunition as a felon, negligent discharge of a firearm, resisting arrest and violating his parole. Booking entries related to the March 11 shooting could be added later.

Anyone with informatio­n for investigat­ors about Sanchez can contact Detective Sgt. John Vandenbroe­ck at 408-277-4161 or leave a tip with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimesto­ppers.org.

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