A rash of thefts and burglaries hit Morgan Hill neighborhoods
this week, police said.
A rash of thefts and burglaries hit Morgan Hill neighborhoods this week, police said.
From Feb. 12 until Thursday, police reported 17 auto burglaries, four residential burglaries, three commercial burglaries and three stolen vehicles, Morgan Hill Police Sgt. Jerry Neumayer said.
Five people have been arrested in connection with two of the commercial burglaries and one person has been arrested for one of the residential burglaries, Neumayer said.
Police have not arrested any suspects in the auto burglaries and caution residents not to leave any valuable objects visible in unattended vehicles and report any suspicious activity.
While the thefts have been spread throughout the city, many of the auto burglaries occurred in the area of Butterfield Boulevard and Dunne Avenue. Neumayer said it is likely the crimes in this area, many of which happened early Wednesday morning, were committed by the same suspect. A Mercury Villager, a Honda Accord, two Ford Explorers, a Nissan Maxima, a Chevrolet Silverado and a GMC pickup were among the vehicles broken into during a two-hour timeframe. A car stereo and a GPS device were among the items stolen, and windows had been broken out of some of the vehicles.
Although no suspects have been identified in the auto burglaries, Wednesday night an officer chased away a suspect who was in the act of burglarizing a vehicle. Neumayer said the officer was doing a patrol check in the area of the 300 block of Dunne Avenue, when he noticed a car parked on the street had its interior dome light on, the door was open and a man wearing gloves was inside.
When the suspect saw the officer he ran away on foot, and the officer chased him briefly but the supect got away, Neumayer said.
The man was Hispanic, 20 to 30 years old, about five-feet eight-inches tall, 190 to 200 pounds, a shaved head and a tattoo on the back of his head, according to Neumayer.
While this suspect may have been involved in the previous auto burglaries in the area Tuesday night, Neumayer said after being chased by police the following night he might target a different neighborhood.
Neumayer noted that the 27 thefts occurring in the last week outnumber the 19 total property crimes in Morgan Hill that took place in 2009 prior to Feb. 12.
Anyone with information on these crimes may contact the Morgan Hill Police Department at 779-2101.
