With Name, Details Emerge About Body Found in Creek

More details have emerged about a man whose body was found in a creek last month, after the Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office obtained his birth certificate and actual name.

The man was 43-year-old Arturo Ambrocio-Perez. The previous name given for the man was Arturo Hernandez.

According to police reports, Ambrocio, born in Mexico, had used multiple variations of his name over his different encounters with Gilroy police.

Ambrocio was never arrested for violent offences. Police cited him for trespassing and other violations related to what reports indicated is a high chance that he was homeless.

In the most recent encounter on Jan. 31, Ambrocio was asleep under an overpass near Sixth Street and Rogers Lane while a fellow homeless man, Osvaldo Calderon, was cooking chicken on a small grill, according to the report.

Fire department Division Chief Ed Bozzo noticed the fire and confronted the men, later joined by two Gilroy police officers, police said.

“Hernandez told me he was sleeping underneath the bridge, because he has nowhere to live,” wrote officer Jesus Cortez.

Using another name, Ambrocio explained that he spent his nights in the National Guard Armory shelter and his days under the bridge. He had lived there with Caldaron for one year, and Caldaron lived there for three, according to the report.

Both men were arrested for trespassing and taken to the Santa Clara County Main Jail under the likelihood that they would return to the site, Cortez wrote.

It was not the first time that Ambrocio had encountered Gilroy police. Officer Noel Lemus wrote in a report earlier in January that Ambrocio admitted to setting a fire illegally to cook rice near a creek north of Ioof Avenue.

He was also cited for sitting on train tracks with Calderon last year, and for trespassing near the area where they slept in late 2009.

Ambrocio was with a group of four people in October 2009 when police charged him for stealing a beer.

The court served several warrants after Ambrocio failed to appear for his charges.

It was after heavy rains fell on Feb. 25 that firefighters and police found Ambrocio’s body in a flood control creek near the 7600 block of Forest Street, according to police.

The coroner’s office will not release Ambrocio’s cause of death until completing their investigation.

Sherri Jaso, who has lived in a house next to the creek for 10 years, said authorities used her backyard to get to the body and remove it.

"I was totally unaware of it until the officer came to the door," she said. "I usually walk the dog around that time, but he didn't want to go out because of the rain."

Water was flowing through the creek to help control flooding during the 0.32 inches of rain that fell that day, she said.

Authorities responded to the call around noon that day and found the man “fully clothed and partially submerged.” They pronounced him dead at the scene, according to a press release from Gilroy police.

Police said they don’t suspect foul play.

Any person with information about the incident can contact Gilroy police at 408-846-0350 or call WeTip anonymously at 800-782-7463.