A stolen sport utility vehicle was found burning in a ditch on
John Smith Road on Friday morning, according to fire officials.
A stolen sport utility vehicle was found burning in a ditch on John Smith Road on Friday morning, according to fire officials.
San Benito County Fire Department personnel responded to a call at around 5:30 a.m. for a vehicle that was on fire. Fire Engineer Josh Silveira said there was no one at the scene when crews arrived. He said the location of the vehicle was about a half-mile east of Best Road.
The vehicle was reported stolen and by the time fire officials got to the fire, the vehicle was already “a total loss” and it had burned about a half-acre of grass.
“The fire burned so hot that the vehicle identification number and license plates burned up,” Silveira said. Although the VIN and plates were burned up, the vehicle was described by Silveira as some sort of General Motors SUV.
The case is under investigation.
Police putting the lid on garbage theft in San Benito County
The Hollister Police Department and the San Benito County Sheriff’s Office will now be enforcing laws regarding the theft of recyclable materials from waste carts in an attempt to be “responsible to our citizens,” a local police sergeant said.
“We are just trying to be responsible to our citizens and keep the (city) clean,” said Sgt. David Westrick, community services director with the Hollister Police Department. “We respond to people calling us all the time.”
While he didn’t have numbers on how many complaints there are weekly, Westrick said the calls are “an as-needed thing” and most are about the mess that the scavengers leave behind. Debate has swirled for years as to whether police should enforce the law, but the onus sits with the waste company once the garbage hits those bins outside.
Still, Homeless Task Force Shelter Manager Cindy Parr said most of the people going through the bins are “clean” and “don’t leave a mess” and that prosecuting the homeless for these types of crimes is putting “a burden on the city.”
“The economy is horrible right now,” she said. “If you prosecute them, you’re wasting money and we don’t have money to be wasting like that.”
Hollister Code Enforcement Officer Mike Chambless said he still gets complaints about people going through recycling bins. Although he said he gets about two per week, which has “tapered down” from up to as many as eight per week in the past.
San Benito County Integrated Waste Manager Mandy Rose has heard about this issue “off and on for years,” and two scenarios commonly arise from it.
Some people put their recycling out in different containers for the homeless to take items if they want. But at the same time, Rose said there are concerns about the homeless going through the trash to find recycling and stumbling upon personal information.
“There many be other concerns with identity theft,” she said.
Rose did add that police have been more “proactive” with those members of the community involved with the theft activities.
California law says that once the bins are placed on the street for pick-up, the materials inside belong to the collection agency, which is Norcal Waste System. The collection agency have been in contact with police and sheriff’s officials and has said the company will cooperate with the prosecution of thefts from recycling bins.
Phil Couchee, general manager of Norcal Waste Systems, which operates the county’s waste disposal, said that there have been discussions on this subject “for quite some time,” with more movement forward in the last month.
