About 12:30 p.m. - an hour or so after a 16-year-old pushed and robbed a merchant who was carrying deposit bags into the downtown Gilroy bank on Monterey Street - a Morgan Hill police officer pulled over a vehicle that went "flying past" him on Monterey Road near Wright Avenue, according to Morgan Hill Police Department Sgt. Jerry Neumayer.

The car made a U-turn on a red light in an apparent attempt to evade the officer. Once he successfully pulled the vehicle over, however, the officer noticed the 26-year-old driver and 16-year-old passenger removing their seat belts, and the passenger was stuffing something under his seat, Neumayer said.

When the officer discovered the older driver had a suspended license, he called for the car to be towed away. During the vehicle inventory process, Neumayer said the officer found the Bank of America deposit bag under the seat, which the 16-year-old apparently stole before fleeing west on Second Street on foot, according to Gilroy Police Department Sgt. Jim Gillio.

MHPD yielded the bag and its unknown contents to GPD after a Gilroy officer and witness from the bank drove to Morgan Hill to identify the juvenile suspect beside the car. GPD did not return calls seeking comment Monday, but Robert Arellano and the teen were arrested Friday on suspicion of robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery, according to Gillio.

Chris Bone Chris Bone covers City Hall for The Dispatch. Reach him at 847-7109 or e-mail him at cbone@gilroydispatch.com.