May
10
SANTA BARBARA, CA – 5/8/2007. This afternoon at 2:15 p.m. a male suspect was inside of Staples Store at 410 State Street. An employee noticed him pushing a shopping cart loaded with a new printer toward the State Street Exit. The suspect bypassed the cash register, apparently intending to leave without paying for the printer. The employee followed the suspect who immediately abandoned the shopping cart and sprinted outside. The employee followed him all around the store to the rear parking lot. The suspect jumped into a waiting 2007 Dodge Caravan which was backed into a parking space in the back parking lot, engine running, and two more subjects inside. The van quickly accelerated away onto Gutierrez Street. The employee called police and provided the vehicle license number. Police dispatchers matched the vehicle as being involved in two recent burglaries out of Hawthorne, CA. A BOL (be on the lookout) was issued. Minutes later Officer John Thompson spotted the vehicle driving downtown. With plenty of backup on-hand, police stopped the vehicle at 300 E. Gutierrez Street. The three occupants were detained without incident. Inside the vehicle were two brand-new computers and a printer. Detectives believe these were stolen earlier today from Office Max at 219 E. Gutierrez Street. Also inside the vehicle were maps and directions to numerous computer stores throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.
The identities of the three suspects have not been determined. All three possessed counterfeit identification. Their fingerprints have been submitted to State and Federal fingerprint databanks for comparison. The van is owned by a vehicle rental company. Reportedly, it was rented by means of a counterfeit credit card. The case remains under investigation; however, all three suspects have been arrested for burglary, criminal conspiracy, and auto theft.
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