2 Shot, Officer Hurt After San Jose Pot House Robbery
SAN JOSE (KCBS/BCN) - Police are investigating whether a violent pot house robbery in San Jose is tied to an incident that led officers to open fire on a fleeing suspect.
A break-in robbery was reported at 11 p.m. at a marijuana grow house on the dead-end of Locust Street, which is near the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown San Jose.
Three people were in the house at the time, and called police, reporting that at least three gunmen had broken in.
KCBS' Matt Bigler Reports:
Officers arrived to find that one of the residents had been shot. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, Lopez said.
Minutes later, officers on DUI saturation patrol saw two men who matched the description of the suspects running away from the house and took them into custody, Lopez said. One of the suspects had discarded a handgun, he said.
A short distance away, on West Reed Street, two patrol officers saw a third man walking in the middle of the street, Lopez said.
When the officers went over to him, the man ran away and jumped into a gray Acura Legend driven by a woman. The woman steered toward one of the officers, who in response discharged his firearm at the car, Lopez said.
"The vehicle sped towards the officers," said Lopez. "One of the officers was able to discharge his firearm at the vehicle in order to stop the immediate threat. In the process he moved out of the way, causing a pretty moderate injury to his knee."
A short time after the Acura drove off, police received a report of a man hiding behind a car in the 800 block of State Street. As officers arrived, the man was getting into a gold GMC Yukon driven by another person, Lopez said.
He was the same person who had fled from officers on West Reed Street, Lopez said. He was taken into custody.
It appeared the man had been hit in the leg by one of the officer's bullets during the earlier confrontation, and he was taken to a hospital, according to Lopez.
Police were interviewing witnesses Wednesday and investigating whether the man was connected to the home invasion robbery. Detectives have also located the driver of the Acura and are interviewing her, Lopez said.
The officer who suffered the knee injury has been released from the hospital, Lopez said. His name has not yet been released but Lopez said he is 43 and has been with the department for 15 years.
The man who was shot is a 30-year-old San Jose resident but his name has not been released.
Police identified the two men taken into custody just after the home invasion robbery as James Kavfusi, 21, of East Palo Alto and Lulnani Kailaii, 30, of San Francisco.
The driver of the Acura, Zebry Mary Lou Martinez, 30, of San Jose, was in custody on charges of assault with a deadly weapon and misdemeanor hit-and-run.
Another suspect believed to have been involved in the home invasion robbery was still at large. He has been identified as Aminiasi Ofa, 22, of East Palo Alto.
Anyone with information about Ofa's whereabouts, or about the case, is asked to call the Police Department's robbery unit at (408) 277-4166. Those who wish to remain anonymous may call the Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at (408) 947-STOP (7867).
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