Jason Sevilla, 19, of Morgan Hill, has been charged with robbery and has been booked into Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of robbing a local woman at her home after following her from the Safeway grocery store on Dunne Avenue where she took cash out from the ATM machine.
A Morgan Hill woman was followed for three miles and then mugged outside her home in broad daylight, according to police.
Sharon K. Howard, 53, went to the Safeway at 840 E. Dunne Ave., to use the ATM machine on Sept. 30, around 7 p.m., when a man in a white Civic began following her out of the parking lot, she said.
According to Howard, the man followed her from the store all the way to her home, entering the freeway, passing multiple trucks, exiting Cochrane Road and then to her home on Tolusa Court.
"He went to the full extent to follow me here ... He parked at the end of the (street) and got out, throwing on a black sweatshirt and started running towards me," she said. When Howard began putting the key in her mailbox, he came right behind her and started pulling on her purse and kicking her while she was screaming for help and holding onto her purse, she said.
Her neighbor across the street saw the whole ordeal, she added.
Jason Sevilla, 19, of Morgan Hill, was charged with robbery later that evening and booked into Santa Clara County Jail, according to Morgan Hill police Sgt. Jerry Neumayer. He is still in custody.
Howard still has bruises on her stomach, left wrist and her right arm from the violent assault and robbery, she said. She thinks that somehow by turning and struggling during the ordeal, she hit Sevilla who fell to the ground. Immediately after he fled, leaving behind his car and belongings inside. Howard then called 911.
Police identified Sevilla as a suspect using his cell phone left in the car. Howard later identified him.
Sevilla's father then brought him into the police station to turn himself in and he admitted to everything, said Neumayer. He was then arrested.
Neumayer said that what Sevilla was doing in the parking lot, waiting for people to rob, is referred to as "laying in wait."
"People do have to be aware of their surroundings, especially if they're taking large amounts of money (out of a bank or ATM)," said Neumayer.
"If this is the beginning of what's happening down here, (then) people definitely need to know because Safeway is not the only grocery store with a bank in it," said Howard, "I won't ever leave Safeway again without someone walking me out."
Nicole Baldocchi Nicole Baldocchi is the assistant online editor at the Morgan Hill Times. Contact her at (408) 847-7139 or send her an email.
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