San Jose

Busy Weekend For San Jose Police: Murder, 2 Attempted Murders, Carjacking

San Jose beat cops are describing this past weekend as out of control: The city saw a murder, two attempted murders and rapes.

The command staff is praising the work of the short-handed officers, but some officers tell NBC Bay Area they felt overwhelmed. It started on Friday, with a late afternoon homicide, and it was non-stop from there.

Detectives are still looking for the killers who took the life of a 55-year-old man near Capitol Expressway and King Road on Friday afternoon.

That was followed by another homicide the next day, in another mobile home park. In fact, all weekend long, police say it was major call after major call. But, even undermanned and taxed, Assistant Chief Eddie Garcia says officers answered the call – over and over.

“We had over 24 contacts, made nine arrests, recovered one gun, two knives. Most of those were gang-related incidents,” Garcia said.

Sources say three separate women reported being sexually assaulted at knifepoint, all near Monterey and Alma streets early Saturday morning. Police managed to arrest a suspect.

They also caught a man who sources say is suspected of a carjacking at Evergreen’s Fowler Creek Park.

The command staff says crime usually peaks during summer months.

Beat cops say criminals are also feeling emboldened by the city’s low staffing levels, something the command staff says it continues to work on.

“We just keep fighting for them,” Garcia said. “We got some things done with Measure B. Now we gotta work on wages and get things set. And we’re going to become the premier department we once were.”

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