The burglary last weekend that lead to the shooting of suspect
Scott Campione, 41, of Turlock, by Morgan Hill Police Officer Steve
Pennington likely was a second attempt to remove property from the
former Flying Lady restaurant on Foothill Avenue.
The burglary last weekend that lead to the shooting of suspect Scott Campione, 41, of Turlock, by Morgan Hill Police Officer Steve Pennington likely was a second attempt to remove property from the former Flying Lady restaurant on Foothill Avenue.
According to court documents, a caretaker of the property, Juan Altamirano, told MHPD Officer Gary Cupps that he makes daily checks of the building, and between April 22 and 10am the next day, someone had been in the building.
The two main entrance doors were forced open, he said. Bolt cutters had apparently been used to cut a chain to gain entry.
Altamirano said told police that he also saw that a large stained glass window, with an estimated value of $20,000, had been removed from the wall of the boarded-up restaurant and was secured in an upright position by an electrical extension cord.
The window, a picture of the “Flying Lady” airplane, had been mounted in the wall between the two front doors of the restaurant. It was clear to Altamirano, he told Cupps, that burglars had attempted to steal the window but had failed for some reason and would be back to complete the theft.
Altamirano also told Cupps there has been a recent increase in thefts from the property, which includes the Hill Country Golf Course and several outbuildings.
Items stolen include a golf cart, generators, water pumps and various items stored from the restaurant, he said.
After alerting his supervisor of the April 22-23 break-in, Altamirano said in his statement, he contacted police about a possible stake-out to catch the burglars if they returned. He said he was told the department was unable to provide any officers for the stake-out.
MHPD Lt. Joe Sampson said the lack of response to a request for a stakeout was not just a staffing issue.
“As far as we can tell, there may have been a difference between what was requested and what was understood to be requested by dispatchers,” he said. “There seems to have been some kind of communication problem there. That part of it will be a part of our internal review; we’ll see exactly what was said on tape, talk to the dispatchers to see how they interpreted the conversation …
“Normally, something like that (a stakeout) would take some time to set up. We have to look at our resources, see who we can call in or agencies we can call for assistance. We don’t have a stakeout team standing by … Depending on how the request is worded, if we are told, a b c and d are probably going to happen, we can try and draw our resources together.”
Because no officers would be watching the property, Altamirano said, he decided to conduct his own surveillance, with his daughter and son stationed in the building south of the restaurant. He watched the property from a security trailer by the front gate of the property with the security guard, he told Cupps.
Using cell phones, the Altamirano family stayed in touch and watched for something to happen. At approximately 1:30am, his son reported seeing two people leave the restaurant on foot, walking east across the golf course and off the property. Next, according to Altamirano’s statement, a van and a pickup were spotted leaving a farm house across the street from the property, headed for the front gate.
When they reached the front gate, Altamirano told Cupps, two male suspects got out of the vehicles, squeezed through the front gate and disabled the access control box. When the suspects opened the gate, the van and pickup drove through. The two suspects got back in the vehicles, which then headed up a road to the restaurant. Altamirano estimated there were four or more suspects involved.
It was at that point he called police, the report shows. On Sunday, the morning after the shooting and burglary attempt, MHPD officers, assisted by three Sheriff’s Office deputies, visited the farm house at 14115 Foothill Ave. It is directly across the street from the golf course
According to the statement from Cupps, they found Candice Y. Saur at the residence, who told them the owner of the property is in prison, and she was hired to be the caretaker.
Saur, who attended Campione’s arraignment Tuesday, described Campione as her fiancé after the hearing.
Cupps’ report said Saur gave officers permission to search the property. Altamirano accompanied the officers as they searched sheds and outbuildings. He told officers several doors, windows and frames inside one of the barns belonged to the restaurant, as well as a microwave oven in the cellar.
Saur told officers, according to the report, that the doors, windows, frames and oven had been a part of the property before she took over, and she “has been slowly throwing most of the junk away.”
Officers also learned, according to the statement, that the gray Ford Ranger pickup Campione allegedly was driving before the shooting was stolen, although it had a license plate registered to Saur and her brown Ford Ranger truck.
Saur denied knowing the gray truck was stolen, telling officers, according to Cupps’ statement, that she asked Altamirano to buy the gray truck for her to use as parts for her brown truck.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. She can be reached by e-mail at md****@*************es.com or phoning (408) 779-4106, ext. 202.
