San Jose police arrest group of violent robbery suspects who held baby at gunpoint
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) - San Jose Police announced Thursday the arrest of four suspects connected to a series of violent armed robberies, including one incident where a 15-month-old baby was held at gunpoint.
Police identified three of the suspects as 19-year-old Armando Manzano, 19-year-old Daniel Mendez, and 23-year-old Eduardo Santiago. Officers did not identify the fourth suspect as he is a juvenile.
Officers said the suspects are connected with three armed robberies, the first being an incident on May 31 where an elderly couple was tied up and beaten before being robbed.
On May 31, at 3:50 p.m., officers responded to a home invasion call at a residence on the 600 block of North Capitol Avenue. The victims, an elderly couple, said five to six suspects bound them with belts and assaulted them while holding them at gunpoint. The suspects fled in the couple's vehicle before police arrived, taking with them various items such as bank cards and jewelry.
A short while later, the stolen vehicle was used in a second home invasion on the 1000 block of Summerdale Drive. The victim reported that five suspects held him and his 15-month-old child at gunpoint, and made him go to a bank to withdraw money from his account. They returned to the victim's home afterwards and stole items such as bank cards and jewelry. The victim's wife witnessed the suspects leaving the house when she arrived and their escape was captured on her dashcam.
A little more than a week later police responded to reports of an armed robbery on the 4000 block of Bolero Drive. Two suspects held the victims, another elderly couple, at gunpoint while violently assaulting them. After tying up the victims in order to rob them, one of the victims escaped and managed to call police.
Responding officers arrived a short while later and arrested both Manzano and Mendez while they attempted to flee the home. After booking them into Santa Clara County Main Jail for felony robbery charges, investigators located and arrested Santiago and a juvenile male suspect.
Detectives said that the day before the third armed robbery, Manzano had been released from jail after being arrested for evading the police on June 5.
"They need to be held accountable. They should not be on our city streets," said Sgt. Christian Camarillo, the department's public information officer, said at a press conference Thursday.
Manzano, Mendez and Santiago remained in custody at the Santa Clara County Main Jail when their arrests were announced. Detectives believe the suspects were involved in additional burglaries and violent crimes. SJPD is asking for the public's assistance in providing all potential surveillance footage of the suspects, regardless of whether the footage captured a crime in progress. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective VanBrande #4542 of the San José Police Robbery Unit via email: 4542@sanjoseca.gov or 408-277-4166.
