Man charged in crime spree a no-show again for arraignment
Kevin Parkourana was charged with 13 felonies, including three murder counts
SAN JOSE >> The man blamed for a violent and indiscriminate crime spree last week that killed three people and injured seven others once again missed a court appearance to answer to 13 felony charges related to the three-hour rampage across San Jose and Milpitas.
Kevin Parkourana, a 31-year-old San Jose resident, initially was scheduled to be arraigned on the charges Tuesday, but he refused transport to the Santa Clara County Hall of Justice — which is next door to the Main Jail where he was being held without bail — and Judge Elizabeth Peterson postponed the arraignment by two days. On Thursday, he was not transported to court again, and Peterson set the new arraignment date for next Tuesday.
“I am working on it,” Lara Wallman, the deputy public defender who appeared on behalf of Parkourana, told Peterson of the efforts to get him in court.
Defendants can refuse transport for a variety of reasons, including physical and mental health issues. The county Superior Court historically has given jailed defendants some latitude, and the Sheriff's Office looks to avoid forced cell extractions because of the potential for injury.
Earlier this week, the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office charged Parkourana with three murder counts, seven attempted murder counts, two carjacking counts and one count of assault with a deadly weapon. If convicted on all charges, Parkourana faces life in prison.
According to the criminal complaint authored by prosecutors and investigators from San Jose and Milpitas police, Parkourana had no connection to any of his victims as he unleashed carnage across South San Jose, Campbell, downtown San Jose and Milpitas on the afternoon of June 1.
In remarks after the canceled arraignment hearing Tuesday, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said that Parkourana committed “multiple repeated acts of violence with a knife, with a car, against people targeted randomly.”
Court records detailing Parkourana's criminal past arrests outline a history of mental health holds and felonies — including bomb making and threatening a man with a dagger — and note that he was on active probation last week. Parkourana also was arrested in January in San Jose on suspicion of an alleged hate crime attack on his transgender roommate, but he was not charged. Rosen did not address that case directly but said there was nothing in Parkourana's recent past that would have allowed prosecutors to charge him severely enough to keep him in jail custody.
Authorities say last week's violent episode began around 3 p.m. near Kooser Road and Dellwood Way, not far from Parkourana's family home in San Jose, when the defendant carjacked a tan Honda minivan and stabbed its male driver. He then went to a shopping plaza on Hillsdale Avenue, where he stabbed and carjacked another motorist, eventually taking off in a burgundy Honda Pilot, officials say.
From there, Parkourana allegedly drove north to Union and Curtner avenues, where he reportedly rearended a motorcycle stopped at a red light, knocking the rider, 67, onto the roadway. Police say he then drove toward Campbell and the Pruneyard shopping center, hitting a woman pushing a shopping cart. He next was seen around 4 p.m. in downtown San Jose, where he allegedly rear-ended a motorist at 10th and East Santa Clara streets, then got out and stabbed that driver.
About 10 minutes later, police and eyewitnesses say Parkourana drove to 16th Street and rammed into Nguyen Pham, 72, and Phuc Pham, 71, who were killed, as well as another person who survived. Down the same street, Parkourana then reportedly hit someone riding a motorized scooter on Alum Rock Avenue in San Jose.
His final destination was Milpitas, where police say he entered the Smart & Final on Jacklin Road and stabbed 26-year-old Milpitas resident Jiwanjot Dhariwal, who later died at a hospital.
Parkourana was arrested not far from that last location, where he was caught hiding behind a vehicle in a driveway on Arizona Avenue about three hours after the rampage began. Police recovered a knife from one of the stolen vehicles and matched it to a missing slot in a block of kitchen knives at his family's house.