SAN JOSE — A man is expected to face attempted murder charges after he reportedly shot at police officers who responded to calls of him throwing glass and other debris from a second-story window of a South San Jose home this past weekend, authorities said.
Anthony Tony Handy, 52, of San Jose, was arrested Sunday after he initially barricaded himself inside the home, then leapt from a window two stories to the ground after police lobbed a gas canister inside to force him out, according to a San Jose Police Department news release issued Wednesday.
Police were called to a home on Delaware Avenue, south of Blossom Hill Road, at 4:28 a.m. Sunday for a report that a man was throwing “various objects” out of the top-floor window of the building. Responding officers tried to contact the man — since identified as Handy — but he refused to come out. As the officers walked away from the home, police said Handy fired “multiple gunshots in their direction.”
No one was hit by the gunfire, and the officers summoned a police negotiator and the MERGE Unit, which is SJPD’s version of a SWAT team.
After Handy jumped from the window, he was detained and arrested, police said. He was taken to a hospital for injuries he suffered from the jump.
Tuesday, police said Handy was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of attempted murder. Jail records show he was being held without bail, and was scheduled for arraignment Wednesday.
Acting SJPD Chief Paul Joseph said the incident was part of a troubling streak of gunfire aimed at police officers in the past year and a half. Two such incidents occurred in May, including a clash at a South San Jose hotel that ended with two officers being shot and wounded.
“These deadly attacks are becoming all too frequent here in San Jose and we cannot allow this to continue,” Joseph said in a statement.
Anyone with information about the Sunday encounter on Delaware Avenue can contact the SJPD assaults unit at 408-277-4161 or email Detective Carlos Soria at 4793@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at siliconvalleycrimestoppers.org.
Source: www.mercurynews.com