Plea hearings for three San Jose residents accused of stealing
rifles from Big 5 Sporting Goods in Morgan Hill March 12 were
postponed Friday.
Morgan Hill
Plea hearings for three San Jose residents accused of stealing rifles from Big 5 Sporting Goods in Morgan Hill March 12 were postponed Friday.
Ramiro Lozano, 34; Roxanne Villabrille, 35; and Alexis Tomines, 28, will next appear at the South County Courthouse for plea hearings 9 a.m. June 5.
Friday’s plea hearing was the first proceeding in which all three defendants appeared at the same time. While Lozano remains in Santa Clara County custody in lieu of $1 million bail, Villabrille has been released on $250,000 bail since her last hearing April 17 on the same case. Tomines was released shortly after his arrest March 12.
Both Villabrille and Tomines were well-dressed and well-kempt in court Friday. They were represented by different private attorneys; Cameron Watt and Esau Herrara, respectively.
Lozano wore a county jail jumpsuit, his arms and legs were cuffed. He is currently represented by the county public defender, though he is in the process of obtaining private counsel, one reason Friday’s hearing was postponed.
None of the suspects has made a plea in the case that involves stolen firearms and other merchandise, and marijuana cultivation.
Arrested March 25 at their home near Fontanelle Drive in San Jose, Lozano and Villabrille are accused of buying or receiving stolen property and marijuana cultivation, among other charges.
Morgan Hill Police have released few details about how Lozano, Villabrille, and Tomines participated in the burglary and subsequent exchange of seven guns stolen from Big 5 on Cochrane Road. Tomines was arrested with at least five of the guns in his possession as he was leaving Lozano’s home hours after the burglary.
When the store opened on the morning of March 12, an employee noticed that someone had cut a hole in the wall near the rifles section and stolen the firearms, according to police.
Shortly after Tomines’ arrest, police searched the home he was leaving, where they found 37 marijuana plants growing inside, as well as stolen merchandise that matched items taken in a December 2008 burglary of Radio Shack in Morgan Hill.
As a result of the ensuing investigation, Lozano was arrested in a traffic stop near King Road and Burdette Drive in San Jose. Officers then went to his home, where they arrested Villabrille.
Lozano faces additional charges of seven counts of grand theft, according to Santa Clara County District Attorney’s spokeswoman Amy Cornell. Villabrille is charged with buying, receiving, concealing or withholding stolen property, cultivation of marijuana, and one count of possession of marijuana for sale.
Tomines faces seven counts of grand theft, one count of possession of a firearm by a felon, and six counts of buying or receiving stolen property. He is out of jail on an $80,000 bond.
