A San Juan Bautista man’s stolen angels may turn out to be a
catalyst for the city’s first neighborhood watch program this
week.
San Juan Bautista – A San Juan Bautista man’s stolen angels may turn out to be a catalyst for the city’s first neighborhood watch program this week.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Department is expediting plans to start a new neighborhood watch program after learning about Refugio Chavez’s recent problem with lawn ornament theft.
Chavez, who has lived in San Juan Bautista for nearly six decades, is confounded by the theft of several three-foot-tall concrete angel statues from his garden in January.
“I was surprised when I noticed the first one gone two months ago, but the next day it happened again,” he said. “I think somebody is probably taking them to re-sell them. Kids couldn’t carry them. They’re too heavy.”
The statues cost between $50 and $200 a piece and can weigh upward of 70 pounds.
Chavez, a devout Catholic, started collecting statues of angels and saints in 1996 after his then 19-year-old daughter’s ovarian cancer went into remission. His daughter, Dolores, has been cancer free for 10 years.
“That’s when I knew there is a God,” he said.
The garden, which contains 20 such statues, serves as a place for peaceful prayer and is a constant reminder of God’s presence to Chavez, his wife, and their four children.
Although he hopes the thieves will be caught, Chavez said he wouldn’t harbor a grudge.
“I look at it in a positive way. I’m hoping that the angels are helping someone else like they have helped me,” he said. “And I hope that whoever is doing this needs these angels more than I do.”
After the third statue was stolen last week, Chavez installed flood lights in the garden as a deterrent and took the matter to the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
Undersheriff Pat Turturici said deputies looked into the theft, but never found any suspects.
“People feel victimized when this kind of thing happens,” he said. “We fight these kinds of crimes because petty crimes can lead to more serious offenses.”
Turturici said he plans to increase patrols in the area and is in the process of starting a neighborhood watch program in San Juan Bautista.
“Neighbors watching out for each other is the best way to stop this type of crime,” he said. “Statistics show that neighborhood watch programs work.”
Turturici hopes to start the program in the next few months. It would include posting “Neighborhood Watch” street signs and assigning volunteers to watch certain areas of city.
In the meantime, Turturici urges residents to report suspicious activity and thefts to police promptly.
