Crime & Safety

UPDATE: Suspicious Van Stopped at Gunpoint in Front of Sears

Two suspects in the van may be involved in multiple car break-ins at Vallco Mall. At least one suspect was on parole after being released from jail in May.

UPDATE as of 3:30 p.m. (the original story is below): The Chevrolet Voyager that was pulled over Friday afternoon belonged to the girlfriend of Andres Flores, one of the suspects who was ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint by police.

Caitlin, who declined to give her last name, said police called her and told her to come get her van right away or it would be towed.

She and Flores have been a couple for about a year, she said, and that Flores just got out of jail in May and is on probation. He had been in jail for possession of a "dirty bowl" and that it was a drug related charge.

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"It was for marijuana, nothing hard," she said.

Crying and upset at seeing Flores in handcuffs sitting in the back of a police cruiser, Caitlin said she had no idea Flores was involved in any kind of illegal activity.

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"I thought he was doing really good," she said. 

Flores was employed at a towing yard, she said.

Deputies gave her the keys to her van at about 3:25 p.m.

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Two suspects driving on Stevens Creek Boulevard in a dark blue minivan were ordered out of the vehicle at gunpoint Thursday afternoon, snarling traffic in front of Sears for about 20 minutes.

A security officer at Vallco noticed two men behaving suspiciously near some cars outside of T.G.I.Friday and called police at about 1:15 p.m., said Santa Clara County spokesman Sgt. Jose Cardoza.

The suspects—a black male and a Hispanic male—were looking into vehicles in the parking lot.

As deputies were responding to the call the suspects got into a dark blue mini van— which matches a similar description of a vehicle involved in recent car break-ins at the mall—and started to leave. The mall security guard called police again to update them on the suspects’ movement.

Cardoza said the responding deputies recalled the description of the vehicle involved in other recent break-ins, saw the minivan on Stevens Creek Boulevard and stopped the suspects in the right lane just before the driveway to Sears.

“It was a good response by all; good work by the deputies and good work by the security officer who called it in,” Cardoza said. “It was good work that they were able to stop the van as it was leaving the scene.”

The minivan is a Chevrolet Voyager, with plate number 4VYF213. As of 1:45 p.m. deputies were still searching the van and inventorying items found in the vehicle. Items included a number of bags, purses, and electronic items such as laptops and iPads, which are believed to be stolen, Cardoza said.

The suspects are a black male, Dontavious Williams, 26, and a Hispanic male, Andres Flores, 27.

Williams and Flores will be arrested for auto burglary and possible other charges.


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