U.S. Marshals Arrest Man Wanted In Gilroy Homicide

GILROY, CA — A man wanted in connection with a November 2017 homicide in Gilroy was apprehended late last week by agents with the Bay Area OCS-Fugitive Apprehension Team/United States Marshals Service. Gilroy police said late Tuesday afternoon that Jay Robert Vasquez, 20, was taken into custody Thursday, April 19 at a San Jose apartment complex.

An arrest warrant was issued Dec. 7, 2017 for Vasquez after Gilroy police identified him as their prime suspect in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Gilroy man Jason Contreras.

Police said agents were conducting surveillance April 19 at the complex in the 5800 block Charlotte Drive and identified Vasquez as he drove into the complex, then back out. The agents followed Vasquez and pulled him over, taking him into custody without incident, police said.

A search warrant was then served at an apartment in the complex, where evidence related to the investigation was recovered.

Vasquez was booked into Santa Clara County Jail in lieu of $10 million bail.

Contreras was found fatally shot at about 4:30 p.m. outside a residence in the 7500 block of Alexander Street in Gilroy. Police responded to find Contreras suffering from multiple gunshot wounds and he was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Witnesses told police Contreras was in a verbal altercation with another man just moments before the shooting.

It was the lone homicide in the city in 2017, the Gilroy Police Department said at the time.

Photos via Gilroy Police Department