 |
 |
|
August 21, 2002
Los Gatos, California Since 1881 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Police arrest three gang members for car stereo thefts
|
|
| By
Gloria I. Wang
|
|
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno police arrested
three gang members last week in connection
with several local burglaries.
San Jose residents Ramon Avalos, 21, Jorge
Salazar, 20, and Javier Rosas, 22, were in
custody after being arrested for three counts
of auto burglary and one count of possession
of stolen property. Police connected the
suspects with two car stereo thefts in
Campbell and one in Los Gatos that had
occurred earlier in the day.
The arrest took place at approximately 3 p.m.
Aug. 15.
Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Officer
Todd Fleming saw a car speeding on Los
Gatos-Saratoga Road and then onto
northbound Highway 17. Fleming followed the
car and noticed that its registration was
expired. On Highway 17 at Camden Avenue,
Fleming stopped the vehicle. While Salazar,
the driver, was getting his identification,
Fleming noticed several car stereos, with cut
wires, on the floor.
Fleming, along with backup officers, then
searched the three men and found wire cutters
hidden in the belt area of two of the men.
According to Detective Sgt. Tim Morgan,
officers found cell phones, stereos, CDs and
nitrous oxide—used as a fuel enhance—along
with the stereos and stolen goods.
Police took Avalos, Salazar and Rosas to the
police department where an investigation was
initiated. Detective Glenn Young was able to
identify the victims based on information
that the suspects had given him. The men had
broken into two cars at the Home Depot on
Hamilton Avenue, both of which had been
reported to Campbell police. The third
burglary, from a car parked at the Office
Depot on Los Gatos Boulevard, had not yet
been reported. The victims were contacted and
went to the police department to identify
their property.
All three of the men, Morgan said, have
criminal histories and all admitted to being
members of the Sureno gang. It's not often
that the police department is able to make
gang-related arrests, Morgan said—"It's nice
to be able to take those types of people off
the streets."
No arraignment date has been set.
|
|
|
|
|
|