Gilroy
– Two teenagers arrested for two vehicle break-ins late last
month could be connected by their fingerprints to roughly 40 other
cases city-wide.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Two teenagers arrested for two vehicle break-ins late last month could be connected by their fingerprints to roughly 40 other cases city-wide.
Detectives have submitted the 16- and 17-year-old boys’ names and fingerprints to San Jose’s fingerprint identification unit, along with fingerprints taken from as many cases of vehicle burglary as possible, that occurred in late December and early January.
Detective John Marfia did not know exactly how many such burglaries occurred in recent months, or how many produced fingerprints that could potentially be matched to the teenagers, who were arrested Jan. 20. The Gilroy Police Department, which was responding to a rough average of 10 or more break-ins each week before the arrests, is now averaging fewer than half that.
“Frequently, if we start to get a rash of burglaries – a huge rash – it is not uncommon, if someone gets arrested, for them to stop,” Sgt. Kurt Svardal said. “(The teenagers) may not get charged with all of them, just because there could be a lack of physical evidence to positively connect all of them.”
Marfia said he did not know how long it will take for the fingerprint match results to come back.
Meanwhile, the two boys, who are San Benito County residents, remain in custody. They were transferred to San Benito County Juvenile Hall, Marfia said. Their names are not being released because they are minors.
They were seen driving away from the scene of two burglaries that had just occurred on Blake Court about 1am Jan. 20. Police stopped the teens’ car at Uvas Park Drive and Miller Avenue and arrested them when they were found to be in possession of property stolen from the cars on Blake Court, Svardal said.
Later, police conducted searches of the two suspects’ residences and recovered a motorcycle stolen from Gilroy and a San Benito County firefighter’s protective clothing, Marfia said, although it is unclear where or when the theft of the firefighter’s gear occurred.
Police began to notice the occurrence of vehicle break-ins picking up during December. Once red flags go up on such a trend, police first do an analysis to pin down any common locations or times of the thefts.
“Patrol usually takes the lead … they don’t like it happening on their shift, so they will proactively put together plans of what they will do,” Svardal said, including increasing patrols in a particular area.
During January, vehicle burglaries occurred in residential areas as well as commercial areas such as the outlets and retail centers at Highways 101 and 152. Westwood Drive, Church Street, Uvas Park Drive, Wren Avenue and Santa Paula Drive were struck several times.
During the night of January 12, someone broke into seven cars, most of them within the same two hours and near Wren Avenue and Kelton Drive.
A rash of vehicle burglaries in a residential area is not particularly unusual, especially on quieter streets.
“If the streets are heavily traveled, the chances are slimmer,” Svardal said, “but we get car (burglaries) at the Outlets on a Saturday afternoon.”
Though a car break-in can take just seconds, owners should do what they can to prevent them – namely, keeping valuables out of sight. Purses in plain view are inviting to thieves, as a way to easily acquire credit cards or cash, and some car owners purchase stereo systems with removable faceplates, but don’t remove them.
“Taking that stuff out is a good deterrent because if it doesn’t look like there’s anything for a criminal, they won’t try it,” Svardal said.
