By Khalida Sarwari
Six people have been arrested in connection with a Gilroy home invasion robbery in February, sheriff’s officials said today.
The arrests were made on Tuesday after deputies and detectives served multiple search warrants at five different locations throughout the Bay Area, according to the sheriff’s office.
The alleged home invasion robbery occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 6 at a home in the 1000 block of Rucker Avenue in Gilroy.
On that night, three suspects ambushed the victim, a 59-year-old man, when he arrived home around 9 p.m. They allegedly tied up the man and then tortured him by repeatedly striking him with pool cues and wooden sticks before pouring chemical substances over his face and body to get him to reveal the combination code to his safe, sheriff’s officials said.
The suspects beat the victim to the point where he temporarily lost consciousness, according to the sheriff’s office.
They took various items from the victim’s home, including guns, stamps, coins, and playing cards. They fled with his pickup truck, but the truck was later found burning in the area of state highways 9 and 35, just outside of Saratoga.
After the suspects left his home, the victim was able to untie himself and run to his neighbor’s house to call authorities.
He was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery for his injuries, which at the time were considered life threatening.
The suspects have been identified as Juvenal Reyes, 62, of Gilroy; Ernesto Gonzalez, 25, of San Jose; Danny Rivera, 22, of San Jose; Norberto Serna, 41; and Juan Fonseca, 21. A juvenile was also arrested.
Police have not yet determined where Fonseca and Serna live.
Reyes and Fonseca were both booked on $500,000 bail on suspicion of charges that include conspiracy, attempted murder, and torture.
Gonzalez and Serna were booked on similar charges.
Rivera was booked in lieu of $150,000 bail on suspicion of possession of stolen property.
Anyone with information on the case is asked to contact Detective Sgt. Julian Quinonez or Detective Sgt. Ryan Elder during business hours at (408) 808-4500 and (408) 808-4400 during non-business hours. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call the sheriff’s tip line at (408) 808-4431.