We've had an unusually high amount of crime relative to normal in Los Gatos in recent months. On Tuesday of this week, the Bank of America in downtown Los Gatos (on North Santa Cruz) was robbed. Happily, a suspect has been apprehended by police and she is now in custody.

To read more, visit the Merc's article on this story:
Woman arrested in Los Gatos bank robbery

Los Gatans recently have been amazed to see so much big crime-related news of their fair town hit the web. Usually the Los Gatos events of the unsavory variety consists of things like drunk in public, things stolen out of unlocked cars, or personal fights gone physical.

But not so long ago, Los Gatos had a murder - the first in 5 years in this "low crime town".

Then, Lunardi's Market, a favorite grocery store here in town, had thefts from their debit machines in the checkout stands that totalled hundreds of thousands of dollars.

And in the last week or two, there were two bank robberies.

Those are just the major items. Since when did Los Gatos get so much crime?

On the plus side, of course, is that suspects have been apprehended in all but one of the bank robberies - so far. Many thanks to the Los Gatos - Monte Sereno Police for that.

The poor economy is hard on most everyone, so perhaps that explains some of the uptick in Los Gatos crime.

Yesterday's San Jose Mercury (and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times), though, ran a piece about why our fair town continues to attract businesses. The article is "'Quality of life' attracts businesses to Los Gatos".  

It is good to be reminded about what's right in town and too easy to dwell on what's wrong. Recently my husband and I spent a Sunday afternoon strolling downtown Los Altos - a lovely town where we'd once considered living. We were amazed that two-thirds of the shops were closed on a perfect summer day. A few interesting places were open, but more often we found that shops that appealled to us were not open. It was a reminder of how vibrant our downtown is. That's just one aspect of the "quality of life" in Los Gatos that can't be beat. Add to that our summer music, Shakespeare, movie nights and so much more, and you have a community that's highly desireable even when things are seeming bleak in many areas of the economy or valley life generally.

The Los Gatos Observer was the first to break the news that yesterday, just before noon, a man was killed at a townhome complex (Rancho de Los Gatos) on Overlook Drive, which is walking distance to downtown Los Gatos. Within a few hours, other news sources picked up on the story and we learned that the victim was a former bar tender and bar owner, the much beloved Mark Achilli.

Apparently a man dressed all in black had been hanging around this normally sleepy neighborhood for a few hours. He shot Mr. Achilli at close range with a number of bullets. Experts believe this is not a random shooting.

Right now, there are more questions than answers. Police are seeking any information. Please call (408) 354-8600 if you can help with this case. The suspect is still at large.

Mark Achilli is a former owner of Mountain Charley's Saloon and 180 Degree Restaurant and Lounge, and prior to that was a bartender at Carry Nation's - all three in Los Gatos.

Crime in Los Gatos

The police has a volunteer group, Volunteers in Policing, and these 150 or so goodly folks assist in a lot of ways around the town. Residents here experience good rapport with the police as well and it's hoped that together, we can assist our peace officers in solving this crime, bringing answers to Mark Achilli's loved ones, and again making our town peaceful and safe. If you know anything that might assist in this investigation, please call the police at (408) 354-8600, or phone the Los Gatos Monte Sereno Police Tip Line at (408) 399-7531.

For more on the investigation of this crime, please see these articles in the Los Gatos Observer: Los Gatos Police Investigate Shooting
Los Gatos Police Seek Murder Suspect

Los Gatos Had a Cross-Dressing Crook Captured in 1895