San Jose: Teen arrested in armed carjacking from home’s driveway

SAN JOSE — A 16-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of carjacking a vehicle from a residential driveway in East San Jose, during which he was recorded threatening to shoot anyone who emerged from the home while he was taking the car, authorities said.

The teen, whose name has been publicly withheld because he is a minor, was arrested May 15 and booked into the Santa Clara County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of carjacking. Information about any related criminal charges is shielded from public view because it is a juvenile court case.

According to San Jose police, officers were called at 1:34 a.m. the morning of April 4 for a report of a carjacking at a home in the 2800 block of Gay Avenue, two blocks east of North Capitol Avenue.

Residents told police that four people approached a car parked in the driveway and broke a driver’s side window, setting off the car’s alarm. One of the intruders, since identified as the teen suspect, spotted residents of the home looking at him through a front window and yelled at them not to come outside, or else he would shoot them.

In a Ring camera video of the encounter that was released by police, the teen’s hands are concealed in his hooded sweatshirt and it is unclear whether he brandished a gun. But he can be heard making multiple shooting threats including “Do not lose your life over a f—-ing car!”

An ensuing investigation identified the 16-year-old boy as the primary suspect in the incident. After he was arrested in San Jose, police said a search of his home recovered a semiautomatic handgun. Police did not indicate whether the boy was carrying the gun at the time of the reported carjacking.

Anyone with information for investigators can contact SJPD Detective Alan Yee at 408-277-4166 or by email at 4342@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.