Gilroy
– Sheriff’s deputies recovered numerous pieces of stolen farm
equipment in San Martin and Hollister recently, returning one
all-terrain vehicle – that was taken in a string of farm thefts
earlier this year – to a Gilroy farmer.
By Lori Stuenkel
Gilroy – Sheriff’s deputies recovered numerous pieces of stolen farm equipment in San Martin and Hollister recently, returning one all-terrain vehicle – that was taken in a string of farm thefts earlier this year – to a Gilroy farmer.
Meanwhile, the new deputy assigned to the rural areas of South County was named Thursday. Deputy Douglas VanderEsch will take over the Rural Crime Unit Jan. 3 from Deputy Dino Diaz, who held the position for the past 18 months.
Residents of Murphy Avenue in San Martin and Betabel Road in Hollister consented to deputies’ searches conducted within six days of each other, on Nov. 27 and Dec. 3.
Deputy Gabriel Sandoval recovered the $5,000 all-terrain vehicle, a $50,000 tractor, and two motorcycles worth several thousand dollars – all stolen – from the Murphy Avenue home between San Martin and Fisher avenues.
“We’ve had problems there in the past, and (Sandoval) did some follow-up there,” said Lt. Dale Unger in the Sheriff’s South County substation.
The tractor was stolen from Fresno, while the ATV belonged to Louie Bonino of LJB Farms in Gilroy. The motorcycles also were local, Unger said.
Jose Manuel, 28, was arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle, a felony, two charges of possession of stolen property, both felonies, and altering a Vehicle Identification Number, a misdemeanor.
Erika Mendoza, 25, also was arrested, for being under the influence of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.
Bonino said his recovered ATV was “thrashed” and basically worthless.
“It’s a dirty shame that people can get away with that,” he said.
Thieves struck South County farmers repeatedly during a roughly six-month period between May and November this year, making off with farm equipment worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
No arrests were made following the search on Betabel Road near Highway 25 in Hollister, Unger said, although deputies could identify suspects during the course of the ongoing investigation.
“There was another agency involved that tipped us off,” Unger said, but would not disclose the agency.
Following a voluntary search, Detective Jeff McCoy recovered a farm trailer equipped to spray pesticides, worth $15,000 and stolen from a Hollister farm.
“There are further leads that are continuing to come in as a result of the investigation that we are hopeful will lead to more recovered property and arrests,” Unger said. “There’s been a lot of man-hours, and good police work that was done on these cases, and this is just deputies that are following up on leads and taking self-initiated action and following through with it.”
In the wake of the recent farm thefts, new emphasis is being placed on the Sheriff’s rural crime unit, with stakeholders included in the selection of the new deputy.
A panel that included Lt. Unger, Farm Bureau Executive Director Jenny Derry, Albert Escobar, with the county Department of Agriculture’s animal control, and a representative from the California Cattlemen’s Association interviewed Deputy VanderEsch and another Sheriff’s department candidate Wednesday.
“We had two really qualified candidates, and the interviews went really well,” Derry said. “I’m encouraged that they’re putting some resources toward this.”
VanderEsch’s background – he grew up on a 400-acre farm in Iowa – and his current assignment in the Sheriff’s parks patrol unit will both serve him on the rural crime beat, Derry said.
“He had some ingrained knowledge about farmers that came out during the interview,” she said. “He seems to feel very comfortable in meeting people and trying to help educate them, and that is going to be one of the biggest components of this position.”
One deputy can’t cover all of unincorporated Santa Clara County alone – he will be working with farmers, rural residents, other deputies and the California Highway Patrol to prevent and solve rural and agricultural crime, she said.
“It is kind of a solitary position, and he has been doing that kind of work as a parks deputy,” Derry said. “He has been working mostly unsupervised, and by all accounts he has been doing a great job at that.”
VanderEsch also will oversee the re-implementation of the Owner Applied Number program in this county.
Farmers mark their equipment with a 10-digit number identifying the state, county, and individual farmer to which it belongs. All law enforcement agencies in the state have access to the numbers directory.
“That way, if someone recovers it in and out of the county – which is completely likely – it will be real easy for them to figure out who owns that equipment,” Derry said.
With the county looking to cut well more than $100 million from next year’s budget, the rural crime deputy could again be put on the chopping block, as he was last year, although later spared.
“One thing we’re going to be working on is to make sure that this rural crimes deputy is a necessity to the whole rural community, and not just agriculture because that will protect that position in the future,” Derry said.
