Wave of burglaries leaves Gilroy Police Department looking for
connections
By Jessica Thy Nguyen Special to the Dispatch
Gilroy – Purses sitting in plain sight, open windows and unlocked doors all mean an easy steal for burglars.
Within the last week there were 10 incidents of vehicular, residential and commercial burglaries, with most of them occurring between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
“During the day shift, more than a normal number of burglaries occurred,” Gilroy Police Sgt. Kurt Svardal said. “A lot of the victims were people who had their cars unlocked or had left easy access to their homes.”
The windows of two cars in parking lots off Church Street were smashed in Sunday and purses were stolen from both vehicles.
“We always encourage people not to leave things readily in sight,” Svardal said. “It’s much safer to take it with you or to take it into your house.”
In the commercial burglaries, two businesses were broken into on Monterey Street between 12:30am and 9:45am Aug. 26. The burglars made off with an entire safe from one of the businesses, containing about $5,000 worth of cash and checks. Jewelry stolen within a few hours from a second business was valued at about $3,500.
In the four residential burglaries reported to GPD and in the two cases reported to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office, all of the suspects gained easy access into the homes through open windows and unlocked doors. In four of the cases, jewelry, electronic equipment, and firearms valued at more than $18,000 was stolen.
A burglar entered a residence on Crudenbay Way using garage remote controls taken from unlocked vehicles outside the home and stole a bicycle along with the garage remotes.
The victims living on Buena Vista Avenue left a key to their home under the backdoor stairway and saw more than $1,000 in cash and personal belongings taken.
“Having a significant number is out of the ordinary,” Svardal said. “Chances are they are connected.”
Police currently have no suspects.
“There are many times where you could have several vehicles parked next to one another,” he said. “One could be chosen because there is an item readily available to take.”
In order to minimize the chances of being victimized, Svardal suggests residents take extra precautions to protect themselves.
“When it comes to the citizens if they’re a little more diligent about keeping items out of view and securing their homes, it’ll keep them from being targeted,” he said.
