Morgan Hill Police gave credit to witnesses and a victim in the community for the recent arrests of four auto burglars, including a pair who said they broke into so many vehicles they lost count, according to authorities.
The arrests were made in two different vehicle stops. The first was Feb. 23, when a Morgan Hill Police officer stopped a vehicle near East Dunne Avenue and Hill Road, according to a press release from MHPD.
The occupants were two juveniles, age 16 and 17, from the East Bay, according to police. They were both on probation for weapons related charges.
Officers conducted a probation search of the vehicle, and found numerous items including a leather Coach briefcase, new men’s watch still in the box, an Apple iPad, designer sunglasses and a GoPro camera, police said.
As the officer was completing the search, MHPD dispatchers announced that a resident had just called to report his vehicle had been broken into, and said items matching those found in the juveniles’ car were stolen, according to police.
The two juveniles were arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property and possession of burglary tools, police said. They were cited and released to their parents.
Police declined to name the suspects because they are juveniles.
Police: Two arrested in gas station parking lot
The second incident resulted in the arrest of two suspects who had stolen items from up to 30 victims. The arrests happened about 12:44pm Feb. 25, when an “alert citizen” reported two suspicious men were sitting in a car, smoking something out of a piece of tin foil, according to Morgan Hill police. The car was parked at the Chevron gas station at Cochrane Road and Madrone Parkway.
MHPD officers responded and made contact with the two men, who were not parked in front of the adjacent mini-market, police said.
The officers immediately noticed narcotics paraphernalia in plain sight inside the car. As more officers arrived and the occupants were removed from the vehicle, police observed a handgun between the passenger’s door and floorboard, according to authorities.
Both men were handcuffed and arrested, police said.
Police determined the handgun was in fact a BB gun that was “almost impossible to ascertain real from fake,” reads the press release.
Officers continued a search of the vehicle and found a “multitude of stolen property and weapons,” authorities said. The stolen items included credit cards, gift cards, license plates, a machete and military discharge papers—none of which belonged to the suspects.
Also recovered from the vehicle were smoking pipes, tin foil with narcotics residue and nearly a gram of what police think was heroin, police said. The vehicle contained so much stolen property that police impounded it for evidence.
Police think at least 25 to 30 victims will be identified from the recovered stolen items.
The suspects were identified as Tyler Del Vecchia, 27, of Morgan Hill, and Justin J. Holderfield, 30, of Morgan Hill, according to police.
“Both suspects admitted to burglarizing ‘so many vehicles that they could not even remember all of the locations,’” the press release states.
They were booked at Santa Clara County Jail on suspicion of possession of stolen property, auto burglary, being under the influence of a controlled substance, possession of paraphernalia, possession of heroin, possession of an expandable baton and possession of an imitation firearm, police said.
“We can’t solve these crimes without you, our Eagle-Eye citizens!” the press release concludes.
Anyone who has been a victim of a recent auto burglary or whose unlocked vehicle has been ransacked can call MHPD at (669) 253-4960 or (669) 253-4985.
