GILROY
– Victims in a string of burglaries early Thursday morning
expressed amazement at the boldness theives displayed while
stealing things from their houses and garages.
”
I feel like it’s very, very professional guys,
”
said Miguel Calderon, of 6775 Stephen Court, who reported that
the burglar(s) walked right past his son, who was asleep on a
living room couch.
”
I just can’t believe that someone would walk into someone else’s
house while they were sleeping,
”
said Debbie Amaro, of 6760 Stephen Court. One or more burglars
took power tools and compact discs from her garage and apparently
tried to enter her house as well.
GILROY – Victims in a string of burglaries early Thursday morning expressed amazement at the boldness theives displayed while stealing things from their houses and garages.
“I feel like it’s very, very professional guys,” said Miguel Calderon, of 6775 Stephen Court, who reported that the burglar(s) walked right past his son, who was asleep on a living room couch.
“I just can’t believe that someone would walk into someone else’s house while they were sleeping,” said Debbie Amaro, of 6760 Stephen Court. One or more burglars took power tools and compact discs from her garage and apparently tried to enter her house as well.
One or more burglars reportedly struck three garages, one house and several unlocked vehicles on tiny Stephen Court. They might have struck more if one resident hadn’t woken up at 4 a.m. and gone outside in time to see a car speeding away. Police have no suspect description, but this victim did provide a loose vehicle description.
An hour-and-a-half earlier, a house on Carignane Drive near Gavilan College was burglarized. City police suspect the incidents are related.
None of the victims spoken to seemed paranoid about the incidents, although they did appear concerned. Bob Reggiani had the locks changed Thursday afternoon at his 713 Carignane Drive house, near Gavilan College; the burglar(s) took his, his wife’s and his son’s keys from inside, he said.
“Up here, we felt safer,” Reggiani said. “Even the police said, ‘We don’t get many calls in this area.’ ”
Reggiani came close to catching the interloper himself. The family cat – not normally inside – woke his 27-year-old son, also named Bob, who went downstairs and saw the back, sliding-glass door open and the VCR cables in disarray. He called for his father, who came downstairs. Then they heard a car start in their garage.
They ran outside and saw the son’s 2000 Toyota 4Runner racing away up the street. Bob Sr. ran inside to get the keys to his truck, but they were gone, he said. He grabbed a spare set, told his wife and daughter to call the police and – still wearing only his underwear – took off with his son in the truck.
They finally found the 4Runner in a driveway around the corner on Nicole Way, abandoned with the door hanging open and no burglar – or keys – in sight.
In addition to keys, Bob Sr. said the burglar took cash and a cellular phone from his wife’s purse.
A burglar appears to have helped him or herself to ice cream from the Reggianis’ freezer. The family found a box of Push-Up ice cream bars left out, and Thursday morning, while looking for the keys, Reggiani and his son found a half-eaten Push-Up on the lawn beside where they found the 4Runner.
An hour and a half after the Carignane Drive incident, Jason Penzo, of 6690 Stephen Court, told police he had had gone outside to investigate after he woke to the sound of doors slamming. He saw a dark-colored car speeding away; he later told police the car’s tail lights appeared to be Chrysler-style.
Penzo’s car was ransacked, according to police, and two softball bats, worth about $200 each, were taken from his garage. The garage door had been closed but not locked, according to police.
Miguel Calderon said the burglar(s) ransacked his son Miguel Jr.’s Acura Integra – stealing a stereo, a wallet, CDs and sunglasses – and his wife’s Toyota minivan. Miguel Sr. said the burglar(s) used a garage-door opener, found in the minivan, to enter his garage and, from there, the living room, where Miguel Jr. was asleep on the couch. The family later discovered that the drawers in Miguel Jr.’s bedroom had been ransacked and his keys were missing from a hook in the kitchen.
The Calderon family didn’t wake up until police entered with guns drawn. Police said they saw the Calderons’ garage door open while investigating Penzo’s complaint.
A few houses down, the burglar(s) took a chainsaw, a hand-held power saw, a garage-door opener and CDs from the Amaro family’s garage. Debbie Amaro said she doubted any burglar would be happy with her CD collection.
“They probably don’t like John Denver or Christian music,” she said.
The burglar(s) seems to have entered the garage through an unlocked side window. Keys Amaro left in her vehicle were found by the door between the garage and the house, indicating that a burglar tried to enter the house but was foiled by a deadbolt lock.
Amaro said she didn’t know anything was wrong until police called her to ask if she had left her garage door open intentionally.
Vehicles at two other nearby addresses were ransacked, but nothing was reported stolen, according to police.
