GILROY
– Santa Clara County Sheriff’s have arrested four suspects and
are looking for at least one more in the burglary of $130,000 in
vehicles and equipment from a home on Redwood Retreat Road earlier
this month.
GILROY – Santa Clara County Sheriff’s have arrested four suspects and are looking for at least one more in the burglary of $130,000 in vehicles and equipment from a home on Redwood Retreat Road earlier this month.
Richard Nicholas Berhorst, 21, Sean Anueanue Fernandez, 20, and two 16-year-olds – whose names have not been released because they are minors – were arrested for felony burglary offenses. Sheriff’s are now on the lookout for Rudolf Edward Ortiz, a 5-foot-7-inch tall, 20-year-old Hispanic man with brown hair and green eyes in connection with the burglary. All of the suspects are from Gilroy.
The owners of the burglarized Redwood Retreat home, whose names have not been released by police due to the ongoing investigation, went on vacation at the end of July and were unaware of the burglary until they returned.
“Because the people were on vacation, they were not aware they had been burglarized,” Sheriff’s Det. Frank Lopez said. “The victim has a very nice home. When they went on vacation, (the burglars) took advantage.”
Lopez said this is a much higher value of stolen items than police usually see.
“Normally, people take about $2,000 or $3,000 worth,” he said. “The value here is pretty high.”
Stolen from the home’s detached garage was a Humvee sports utility vehicle, four motorcycles, tools, and stereo and electronic equipment.
Nearly $110,000 of the property was returned to the home, but two motorcycles, tools and electronic equipment are still missing.
“We located it (the property) at several different areas,” Lopez said of the stolen goods, which he said were returned in “pretty good shape.”
Sheriff’s first got involved in the case Aug. 6, when they found an abandoned Humvee on the side of the road.
“The deputies were driving around on patrol and they found a Hummer,” Lopez said. “It had been stripped.”
Later, a business partner of the homeowner called police when he found the vehicles were missing after checking on the vacant house. Police filed a report and then returned to the home when the homeowners called and said they had serial numbers for all of the stolen property. Sheriff’s deputies returned to the home Aug. 20 and discovered clues that led them to arrest three of the suspects later that day and another one Thursday.
Lopez was reluctant to give out too much information on how the officers made the connection between the crime and the suspects in case more suspects are found.
“I don’t want anyone to know how we got their names,” he said. “The way it’s growing, I wouldn’t be surprised if more names come up. Right now, we have a very good lead.”
Anyone with information related to the case should contact Lopez at 686-3650.
