SAN JOSE — A man who police say threatened a family with a gun in the aftermath of a south San Jose car crash has been arrested, and police say they seized more than two dozen firearms from his home.
The first incident occurred around 12 a.m. Oct. 6, with San Jose police officers responding to Bernal Road and San Ignacio Avenue for a report of a hit-and-run collision, according to a news release from the San Jose Police Department.
The motorist who stopped at the scene told police he was driving with his wife and 1-year-old child when he was involved in a vehicle collision with another man. When the driver got out to try to exchange license and insurance information, he said the other man “brandished a firearm and threatened the victim” before fleeing the area.
A subsequent investigation identified the alleged gunman as a 48-year-old man from San Jose, and the following day officers stopped his car and took him into custody.
Police said officers found a rifle magazine and ammunition during the traffic stop, and a search warrant later served at his San Jose home led to the confiscation of more than two dozen handguns and rifles along with ammunition.
One of the seized weapons was described by police as a machine gun, and the department confirmed it was capable of fully automatic fire, which makes it illegal to own in California.
The arrested man was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of criminal threats, brandishing a firearm, hit-and-run and various weapons offenses. He was criminally charged Oct. 10 and is out of jail, records show.
Anyone with information for investigators can contact Detective Nicholas Tong with the SJPD Assault Unit at 408-277-4161 or by email at 4774@sanjoseca.gov.