With the assistance of a diligent victim who helped identify the man who burglarized his home, San Benito County Sheriff’s investigators on April 24 arrested a man who they said committed numerous burglaries in and around the City of Hollister.
Deputies assisted by agents from the Unified Narcotic Enforcement Team (UNET) and the Santa Clara County Special Enforcement Team (CSET), served a burglary-related search warrant on the 100 block of Sierra Court in north Hollister, according to the sheriff’s office.
The warrant was written by Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Mingus after he had taken multiple reports in the preceding days of theft and burglary in the Oak Creek and Quail Hollow neighborhoods of San Benito County. During this investigation, some of the residents of the neighborhoods provided Mingus with home security video footage.
One of the victims in the case posted a screenshot depicting the burglary suspect on social media, police said. This post resulted in a tip that helped the victim identify the alleged burglar and his place of residence.
The victim went to the area of the suspect’s home on Sierra Court, and saw the suspect walking around with some of the stolen property, according to the sheriff’s office. The victim confronted the suspect, who then fled on foot. The victim passed this information to Mingus.
Deputies continued to follow up on the information about the suspect, and identified a residence that belonged to a family member of the alleged thief on Sierra Court, police said. The suspect was supposed to be living in Ventura County, but deputies established that he and his vehicle had been frequenting the Sierra Court home. Authorities then issued a warrant to search the home.
When officers showed up to search the residence, the suspect, Alfredo Zendejas, attempted to run away, police said. But officers caught up to him and arrested him.
Zendejas was found to be in possession of multiple items of stolen property.
The San Benito County Sheriff’s Office “would like to thank and commend the residents of Oak Creek and Quail Hollow for their collaborative effort in combating these burglaries.”
