A parolee was arrested in Gilroy Wednesday after a brief attempt to flee from police.
The Gilroy Police Department reports that members of the department’s Anti-Crime Team spotted known gang member James Bob Lucio, 35, allegedly behind the wheel of a stolen car.
According to police, Lucio spotted the officers and fled on foot from the stolen vehicle. He was taken into custody after a brief tussle with officers and a search related to the arrest turned up multiple baggies of methamphetamine, as well as other indicators that Lucio was selling narcotics.
Lucio was booked into Santa Clara County Jail for possession for sales of methamphetamine, auto theft, resisting arrest, and a parole violation, authorities say.
Lucio received some notoriety in local law enforcement circles by being the first person released from prison and returned to Gilroy under Assembly Bill 109, the prison re-alignment program. The legislation shifted the custodial responsibilities back to local jurisdictions for some prisoners in an effort to reduce prison populations.
Lucio isn't the first parolee released under AB 109 that Gilroy police have had a run-in with. Officials say Angel Espinosa, another parolee and known gang member, has been arrested twice for violent crimes after being released under the terms of the bill.
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