Saratoga News

Armed robbery leads to arrests

By John Pancharian

Four youths have been arrested in connection with an armed robbery May 12.

At 4 p.m. that day, one suspect approached the car of a San Jose woman parked across from Village Plaza, asked the time, then pushed a handgun in her car window and demanded her purse. The woman complied, and the suspect fled in a gray Toyota driven by a second suspect.

A witness who saw the crime from a nearby office window called the police. Deputies from the Santa Clara County sheriff's office responding to the call spotted the getaway vehicle and gave chase.

The suspects led deputies and San Jose police on a pursuit that ended when the suspects crashed into a parked car at the corner of Rainbow and DiNapoli drives in San Jose. The suspects then fled on foot but were subsequently captured.

Sheriff's investigators believe the suspects and two other accomplices are responsible for at least eight similar robberies dating back to May 7 in Gilroy, Santa Clara, Milpitas, San Jose, San Martin, Cupertino and Campbell. A sheriff's spokesman said police believe the suspects would approach a victim they thought was about to enter a bank or use an ATM, brandish a weapon and demand a purse or wallet.

Three of the suspects were identified as juveniles and booked into Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall. The fourth, 18-year-old Jonathan Michael Landry of San Jose, has been booked into Santa Clara County Jail on eight counts of armed robbery and one count of auto theft. Deputies have recovered two weapons during their investigation.

"At the time I was too surprised to be scared," said the victim of the May 12 robbery, who requested that her name not be used. She added that the event was such a non sequitur in her day that she momentarily thought it was a joke. "That guy looked nice," she said. "He didn't look like he would do that."

The victim told the Saratoga News that she was in the habit of going to the International Coffee Exchange to read. On the day in question, she had opened her car door and was selecting reading material to take with her into the cafe when the suspect approached.

"He said, 'Hi, excuse me, what time is it right now?' " the victim recalled. She did not have a watch and so turned away to find her keys, turn on the car's clock and answer the young man. When she turned back, she found herself looking into the barrel of a gun. She said the second suspect had stopped the getaway car directly behind her vehicle, ready to pull away.

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