Police have returned almost $90,000 in tractors and other farm
vehicles to farmers in San Benito and surrounding counties which
were stolen by a ring of auto thieves operating out of San Benito
County.
San Juan Bautista – Police have returned almost $90,000 in tractors and other farm vehicles to farmers in San Benito and surrounding counties which were stolen by a ring of auto thieves operating out of San Benito County.
San Juan Bautista residents Jason Williamson, 30, and Zenen Serrano, 40, along with 28-year-old Watsonville resident Benito Castro, were arrested earlier this month by the Santa Clara County Regional Auto Theft Task Force at their ranch located at 9644 Betabel Road, according to task force Detective Peter Beninger.
The trio had eight trucks, tractors and trailers parked in an apple orchard on their property which they had stolen from different farms and ranches in San Benito, Monterey and Santa Clara counties several months before, he said.
The total value on the different vehicles topped out at $88,825. Police returned the last vehicle to its owner last week, and were able to latch on to the group from information gathered during an investigation and from informants, Beninger said.
“This is more and more of a problem affecting every county now with farm land,” Beninger said. “Most tractors are left in open space, people drive by and take them.”
Beninger said rural areas such as San Benito County and parts of Monterey County are the most alluring to thieves because of the wide open spaces. But the San Benito County Sheriff’s Department hasn’t seen an upsurge lately in farm vehicle thefts, according to Undersheriff Pat Turturici.
Turturici said about three or four tractors have been stolen in the past nine months from fields in the San Juan Valley, specifically around San Juan Bautista.
Deputies did not make any arrests relating to the missing tractors, he said.
“It is a concern,” he said. “Some farmers have called and asked us to step up patrol in areas where the tractors have been stolen.”
Serrano, Williamson and Castro remain in custody at the San Benito County Jail on felony charges of possession of stolen property, according to jail personnel. Hollister resident Cina Gonzales, 23, was arrested along with the men when police executed a search warrant at their property, however she was found with a controlled substance and was not involved with the tractor thefts, Beninger said.
Gonzales was booked on one felony charge of possession of a controlled substance and is still in custody, according to jail personnel.
Erin Musgrave covers public safety for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or em*******@fr***********.com
