3 accused of attempted murder following violent machete attack in San Jose
Three men were arrested last week on suspicion of attempted murder in connection with a violent machete attack in East San Jose in June.
According to San Jose police, the victim was attacked in a parking lot outside a business on the 2600 block of Alum Rock Avenue on the night of June 27. He suffered multiple wounds and was hospitalized for major but non-life-threatening injuries.
"These suspects sought out their victim and knew they wanted to take a life," acting Chief of Police Paul Joseph said in a statement. "Violent criminals have no place in our community and I am grateful our Detectives acted swiftly to put these suspects behind bars."
A preliminary investigation revealed that the victim had gotten into an altercation with the three suspects earlier in the day. Police said the suspects later searched for the victim and attacked him with machetes once they found him.
SJPD spokesperson Stacie Shih said the altercation also took place in East San Jose. The victim and suspects were not known to each other.
The attack was captured on surveillance video. Investigators were able to identify three suspects and obtained arrest and search warrants.
Shih said the video, which is graphic, "really did play a key in identifying the three suspects."
On Sep. 10, police arrested 41-year-old Eddie Herena of Martinez and 43-year-old Juan Ramirez of San Jose. The next day, police arrested a third suspect, identified as 43-year-old Raul Moreno of San Jose.
"The fact is they chose violence and they had one goal in mind, which was seeking out this victim and causing a lot of harm and potentially murder," Shih said at a press briefing on Wednesday.
Police said Herena was convicted in a 2005 homicide that took place in San Jose and was released from prison in 2018.
The agency confirmed Herena was the same person interviewed by CBS News Bay Area back in May, in which he said that he turned his life around after finding his passion for photography while behind bars in San Quentin.
In the interview with him, he described coming to terms with the crimes he had committed.
"I just have to look at my life and reflect on the things that I did in the past and I did a lot of ugly stuff," said Herena.
John Halushka is a professor of justice studies and San Jose State. He said the fact that Herena committed another extremely violent crime after being released from prison is actually very out of the ordinary when looking at the statistics.
"Like this case in the sense of its sensational violence is quite rare, especially for a man of his age," said Halushka.
Halushka said, normally, as people get older, they're less likely to resort to violence, even people with prior convictions.
"And so, what we see in this case is really an outlier case, and I think we should just keep that in mind and sort of the broader context of people coming out of prison," said Halushka.
Herena and the two other suspects in this case remain behind bars. All three have been charged with attempted murder.
"I want to thank our officers who risk their lives each and every day to make sure our city is safe," said Mayor Matt Mahan said. "Whether confronting a gun, a machete or any other threat, the men and women of our police department are courageous in the fight to protect San José."
Shih said that there was no indication that the incident was a hate crime or that the incident was gang-related.
Jail records show Herena, Ramirez and Moreno are being held without bail, with their next court appearance scheduled for Sep. 24.
Anyone with additional information about the case is asked to contact Detective Madera of the department's Assaults Unit over email or by calling 408-277-4161.