After brazenly swiping two coin-operated gumball machines from Gilroy businesses Friday afternoon, five Hollister teens rolling around town in a conspicuous black Hummer found themselves in a sticky situation: police custody.
Officers from the Gilroy Police Department apprehended the five teens – ranging in age from 15 to 18 – after business owners and witnesses watched them nab the colorful candy dispensers from shops on First Street and Monterey Road.
The 18-year-old suspect, Jeremy Velasquez, was arrested for petty theft, police said. The names of the other suspects were not released because they are minors.
According to police, the teens drove up to the Tacos El Grullense restaurant on First Street around 3 p.m. Two of the teens entered the restaurant then ran out to the waiting Hummer carrying the gumball machine, police said.
Soon after, the group made its way to the California Style hair salon on Monterey Road, where two of the teens stole a gumball machine outside the salon and loaded it into the Hummer, police said.
Witnesses at both locations provided vehicle descriptions and license plate numbers to police, who located the vehicle along Monterey Road about an hour after the first machine was stolen.
Police recovered the gumball machines, which carried a combined value of $770, according to police.
