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Uploaded: Thursday, March 6, 2008, 3:48 PM
Arrest made in Merales murder
San Jose youth charged in Feb. 26 shooting in Higdon Avenue
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
Photo
 | Police have announced an arrest in the murder of Jose Merales, 17, gunned down on Higdon Avenue late last month.
San Jose resident Hugo Garcia, 19, is charged with shooting Merales on Feb. 26 near his Mountain View home. Although a $10,000 reward had been offered in the case, investigators made the arrest without any outside help, according to police spokesperson Liz Wylie.
In a press release, police said they had been working "around the clock to identify and follow up on leads, which was made difficult due to a lack of eyewitnesses to the homicide." Wylie said that during the investigation, police obtained physical evidence linking Garcia to the crime, and on Thursday they asked him to come to the station for questioning.
"He wasn't here to turn himself in," Wylie said. "He came here on his own accord. When he was here, at some point we developed enough evidence to place him under arrest."
The arrest came less than a day after police announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrests for the murder. No witnesses had come forward, however, before police apprehended Garcia, and no one will claim the reward.
Merales was found dead Feb. 26 on the sidewalk of the 100 block of Higdon Avenue near Villa Street, a few buildings away from his own apartment building. Neighbors said they heard several shots at 6:15 that evening.
A motive for the murder has not been established. Police are not sure if Garcia is a gang member or what he was doing in Mountain View the day of the shooting.
Even though Merales allegedly was affiliated with the Surenos, "This particular crime doesn't appear to be motivated" by gang activity, Wylie said. Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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Posted by DG, a resident of the North Whisman neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2008 at 9:33 pm I just read a story in the San Jose Mercury News about a shooting in Palo Alto and how they used the "Shotspotter" system (which uses sound waves and GPS) to pinpoint the location of the gunfire. The system beat phoned in reports by two minutes.
In light of the recent violence, I wonder if this is something we should consider implementing in Mountain View...
Web Link
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Posted by g, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Mar 6, 2008 at 10:17 pm I hope they cought the right guy this time..for the murder. not like in other murder cases that they acuse innocent people for duing something without no proof!!
** hope the mountain view police is right this time!!
poor stupid kids this days killing eachother over gangs! they should consintrate in school!!
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Posted by Janis, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Mar 7, 2008 at 8:51 pm Kudos to Mountain View police for getting this kid off the street.
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Posted by George, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2008 at 12:12 am I'm a little confused. The police say that Jose was affiliated with the Surenos but the crime was not motivated by gang activity?
Jose was in a gang. He was shot 4 times in the chest and once in the head. That was gang induced, motivated or not. Why are the police withholding that?
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Posted by essay, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Mar 8, 2008 at 7:19 am Jose was quite the ladies man. It's possible this was a crime of passion, not gang-related activity. Regardless, RIP Jose.
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Posted by 4l4n, a resident of the Monta Loma neighborhood, on Mar 11, 2008 at 10:49 am I guess he should have spoke with his lawyer before talking to the police.
Due to the nature of this case there is a good chance they arrested the wrong guy.
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Posted by ANONYMOUS, a resident of another community, on Sep 2, 2008 at 5:13 pm HE SHOT MY FRIENDS HUSBAND HES SO DUMB FOR WAT HES DONE ALL BECUZ HIS CHEATIN ASS LADY
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