Hollister police detectives have completed their investigation
into a local burglary ring and are in the process of returning a
garage full of stolen property to victims.
Hollister – Hollister police detectives have completed their investigation into a local burglary ring and are in the process of returning a garage full of stolen property to victims.
Police uncovered a large burglary and fencing operation following a residential burglary and the theft of eight puppies in October that led to the arrest of a Hollister woman and the seizure of $100,000 of stolen property.
Police first arrested Martha Castaneda, which led to three more arrests – Sergio Covarrubias, his wife Antonia Covarrubias and Sergio Torres. All four were part of the burglary ring and committed six burglaries over the last three months, Detective Rudy Rodriguez said.
“These people specialized in residential burglary, but they took just about everything that wasn’t bolted down,” he said.
The thieves stole everything from eight 3-week-old puppies to clothes, books, jewelry and CDs, Rodriguez said. Police even confiscated stolen shampoo bottles and toothbrushes, he said. Rodriguez estimated the value of the stolen property to be near $100,000.
“Sergio Covarrubias was the warehouse – he was storing all the stuff,” Rodriguez said. “And I’d like to find out where he was moving it, but at the moment our main concern is getting the victims back their stuff.”
Police have tracked the burglary ring as far as they can, Rodriguez said.
“We’ve got the core group involved in the burglary ring, but there may be other individuals that are still out there,” he said.
When Castaneda was arrested, police connected stolen property she had with three other residential burglaries that occurred during October, along with the Oct. 25 burglary on Clearview Drive where the eight three-week-old golden retriever puppies were stolen.
The owners of the puppies played detectives and tracked down the majority of the puppies and a kitten, which are home safe and sound, and led officers to Castaneda, according to one of the puppies’ owners.
Six of the eight stolen puppies have since been returned to their owners, but two remain missing.
While police have exhausted all leads, the four suspects’ journey through the court system is ongoing. Castaneda pleaded guilty Monday to three felonies which were all reduced to misdemeanors. She will appear in court for sentencing in January and faces a maximum of 2 years in prison.
Covarrubia Nunez entered a plea of not guilty in November on a felony receiving stolen property charge, and will appear in court for a trial-setting hearing on Jan. 4.
Covarrubia is charged with two felonies and two misdemeanors and will appear in court to enter a plea on Jan. 4
Torres was arrested for felony possession of stolen property and criminal conspiracy, but his name does not appear in court records.
