38-year-old Manuel Gabriel Rico of San Jose was arrested early Sunday morning after ramming a stolen GMC Jimmy his car into Santa Clara police cars and a Santa Clara police officer shot and wounded him, San Jose police said.
Rico was booked into the Santa Clara County jail on multiple charges and on a felony warrant for assault with a firearm. The incident started around 5:08 a.m. Sunday, when a Santa Clara police officer spotted the stolen GMC Jimmy Rico was driving. Police officers tried to pull Rico over at Stevens Creek Boulevard at Cypress Avenue (at the 7-Eleven) near the Santa Clara-San Jose border but Rico refused to pull over, instead leading police on a pursuit both on surface streets and on the freeway. Rico went south down Mayellen Avenue south of Scott Street in San Jose, which is a dead end. Trapped, Rico then allegedly rammed the GMC into several Santa Clara Police vehicles who were blocking his exit.
At one point, a Santa Clara officer fired his weapon at Rico, who was hit at least once by gunfire, San Jose police said; despite this, it took a police dog to bring Rico down. San Jose police responded to the incident around 5:20 a.m. because the pursuit ended and the shooting occurred in San Jose though San Jose police were not involved in the vehicle pursuit or the shooting. Rico, had a loaded stolen handgun in his possession and was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries. Neighborhood streets were closed for about 8 hours while SJPD investigated the shooting, inconveniencing neighbors.