Tag: San Jose

A public memorial service Friday will honor San Jose Police Department community service officer Long Tham Pham, who was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver earlier this month.

The service for Pham, 34, takes place at SAP Center in San Jose starting at 11 a.m., according to SJPD. The department is planning processions to and from the venue.

On Aug. 3, Pham and another community service officer were conducting traffic control on Monterey Road in South San Jose when a driver hit both of them, killing Pham and injuring the other CSO, identified as Veronica Baer.

Members of the community came together to hold a vigil on Thursday for a San Jose community service officer who was hit and killed by a suspected drunk driver earlier in the month. 

Pham died at the scene, and Baer was taken to a hospital, where she remained for days in critical but stable condition.

Police arrested 44-year-old Juan Palacios of Morgan Hill on suspicion of felony vehicular manslaughter. Palacios has previous DUI charges on his record, police said.

Pham, who became a community service officer in October 2022, is the first CSO in the department’s history to be killed in the line of duty, SJPD said.

The San Jose Police Department is investigating a shooting at a local business that left a person dead Sunday morning.

Officers responded to the scene around 3:18 a.m. around the 900 block of McLaughlin Avenue, SJPD said.

Upon arrival officers performed “emergency medical care” on the victim. They were then transported to a local hospital where they died, officials said.

The identity of the victim has not been released and investigators are looking into the motive of the event.

Officials are looking for the suspect and ask that anyone with information get in contact with Detective Sergeant Varela, Detective Montoya or the homicide unit via email at 3638@sanjoseca.gov or 3644@sanjoseca.gov. Individuals can also call the department at 408-277-5283.

No other information was released at this time.

This is a developing story and will be updated when more information becomes available.

Changes are coming to Santana Row’s parking rules. Starting this week, visitors and employees will have to pay for parking after two free hours at the San Jose outdoor mall.

There are signs that have been put up at the garages. After two hours, customers will have to pay $2 per hour with a maximum daily rate of $10.

“I think it’s not very pleasant because a lot of the times, I’m going to Valley fair just to try to avoid the little fees. I’m not very happy about it,” said San Jose resident Keirah Chen.

Santana Row’s new parking rules are similar to what the nearby Westfield Valley Fair mall has been doing. San Jose resident Stella Zhou used to work at Valley Fair and would have to pay for parking.

“You’re already kind of getting paid minimum wage at most of the shops there and having to pay parking on top of that, it’s not really fun,” she said.

The senior director of marketing at Santana Row said employees can get a monthly parking pass for $20 or pay a daily rate of $2.

In an email, Santana Row said the change is due to “the increased number of Valley Fair employees and customers using our parking spaces, by regulating parking, we ensure that our guests can conveniently find parking spaces.”

Also, one outdoor parking lot is now only for Santana Row employee. In some of the garages, there will be signs that say paid parking starts Tuesday, but the senior marketing director says they don’t have the official day just yet, but it will begin this week.

A two-alarm brush fire sparked Tuesday in Coyote Valley on the southern edge of San Jose, according to fire officials.

The Teresa Fire was first reported just before 12:30 p.m. in the area of Santa Teresa Boulevard and Bailey Avenue, officials said. It burned roughly 35 acres before being declared under control at 1:55 p.m.

No structures were burned, and no injuries were reported, according to fire officials.

Santa Teresa Boulevard was closed in both directions between Bailey and Bayliss Drive, and Santa Teresa County Park and trails were evacuated as a precaution, fire officials said.

San Jose Fire Department units and Cal Fire units responded to the scene.

San Jose police on Monday announced the arrests of seven people believed to be involved in vandalizing a patrol car and injuring an officer during a recent sideshow.

The incident happened in June as the officer was responding to reports of an injured person at an illegal sideshow.

Video showed more than a half-dozen people – some wearing masks – pounding on the patrol car as the officer sat inside.

Among those arrested was 20-year-old Matthew Nolan of San Mateo, the man prosecutors say was seen kicking in the patrol car’s windshield and injuring the officer.

“If you attack a San Jose police officer attempting to help an injured person so you can become famous on TikTok, it’s possible you may escape consequences for hours or days, but be assured we will find you and we will arrest you,” acting San Jose police Chief Paul Joseph said.

The arrests also included one of the sideshow drivers and a juvenile. The suspects are from a variety of cities, such as Salinas, San Francisco and even Yucca, Arizona. All now face felony charges.

“These defendants wanted to post something online, to be part of something viral and edgy,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said. “They wanted attention. They got it.”

“We’re sending a clear message that whether you live here or cross city, county or state lines to commit a crime, we will find you and hold you accountable,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan added.

Right now, San Jose can impound a car involved in a sideshow for 30 days. Police can also cite someone just for watching the illegal shows.

Police said detectives are now using technology to help identify those involved in a sideshow and make arrests days or weeks later after analyzing all the evidence.

Detectives said they’re also working on a regionwide effort with the hopes of one day forming a Bay Area task force to better combat the problem.

“If they could attack a uniformed officer like this, what could they do to everyone else?” Joseph said.

CaliBunga Waterpark is delaying its opening to Thursday, July 4.

The popular South Bay destination, formerly known as Raging Waters, said some attractions would not open in time for this weekend’s original opening date.

“Unfortunately yesterday afternoon we had some unexpected challenges with some electrical issues,” General Manager Mel Sells said in a video posted to social media on Friday. “This caused several of our attractions not to be able to open this weekend.”

Sells said pushing the opening date back is devastating.

“We do apologize for the unforeseen circumstances it has caused us not to be able to open on time and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation,” Sells said. “I know this isn’t the news that you wanted to hear or that we would want to share today, but we wanted to let you know as soon as possible.”

Crews will be working to fix the impacted attractions.

“We are looking forward to welcoming guests back to the park on Thursday when we’re able to provide a safe and quality experience,” Sells said.

At the end of summer 2023, Raging Waters unexpectedly announced it was not renewing its lease and closing for good because of low turnout.

Visit calibunga.com for more information.

Two separate mountain lion sightings were reported in San Jose in the last few days.

The most recent sighting was reported at around 10 p.m. Friday near 24th and Santa Clara streets.

The incident was caught on a home surveillance video. The video showed the mountain lion walking by a truck with a small dog barking at it. Another video showed the mountain lion on a roof.

A nearby business owner told NBC Bay Area Saturday that she’s surprised to hear about a mountain lion roaming close to downtown.

“I thought it wasn’t real. We’ve been here over 30 years, almost 40 and I’ve never heard of a mountain lion in the area,” she said. “You know, this close to downtown, this close to the neighborhood.”

The San Jose Police Department said that they haven’t received any reports about a mountain lion.

The San Jose Animal Care and Control confirmed to NBC Bay Area that earlier Saturday, someone sent them a surveillance video, showing the animal in the area on Friday. They added that they reported the sighting to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife did not respond to NBC Bay Area’s request for comment on Saturday.

Another mountain lion sighting was reported Thursday in the area of Oakland Road And Murphy Avenue in San Jose. It’s not known at this time if it’s the same mountain lion from Friday.

The person who posted the pictures on Reddit said they saw the animal Thursday afternoon and reported it to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Earlier this week, a pair of mountain lion sightings were reported in two separate Milpitas neighborhoods. It’s not known if all incidents were related.