Lafayette Burglars Well Armed, Well Cranked, Well Connected
Wonder how the bad guys are pulling off all these residential burglaries? A Lafayette officer finds out just what she's up against out there.
Doggie door burglaries, front door kick-ins, burglars so speedy and so knowledgable of their victim's activities they're in and out of a targeted house in minutes -- with jewelry, guns, prized heirlooms and possessions.
Who are these people?
Lafayette Police Chief Mike Hubbard has an officer who got "up close and personal" with two of these folks last week and, while she may not have been surprised to find how they operate -- Patchers may be.
In his report to Lafayette City Manager Steve Falk, Hubbard recounts the story of Officer Parrilla, who was on patrol on Happy Valley Road last week when she encountered a suspicious car parked there and approached, asking the driver if he was delivering newspapers. The driver said yes, even though there were no newspapers in the car. The driver then said he was out walking his dog -- only, yes, there was no dog. Then, according to Hubbard, he tried the old "visiting a friend in Orinda and got lost on my way back to Antioch"-story, which didn't exactly work either.
A records check determined the driver was on federal parole for conspiracy. He was detained. While Parrilla was putting him in her patrol car a second man approached and walked past her. She asked to speak with him and he said he was just out for a walk. Asked if he was carrying anything illegal he said he wasn't and allowed the officer to check -- she found a flashlight and a two-way radio. The radio, Hubbard said, was linked by channel to one on the front seat.
Parrilla detained the second man and searched their car, allegedly finding methamphetamine and, in the trunk, a trash bag half full of mail from various homes in Lafayette and other areas. Oh, yes, there was also a billy club between the front seats of the car. The second man claimed the drugs while the driver denied knowledge of the drugs, the club, and the pilfered mail. Parrilla reported that both men denied they were using the radios to communicate with each other -- though both were on and tuned to the same channel.
Both visitors were taken to jail and booked for conspiracy, possession of stolen property and possession of narcotics. The driver's federal probation status was instantly revoked.
Hubbard praised his officer. She praised the homeowner who called in to report a suspicious car.
And that, dear neighbors, is what we're up against.
Tony Rodriguez
2:50 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Great work, officer!
Lourdes
3:17 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Yes. All alone officer and stopping some burglary before they happen and identity theft too
Barbara Starreett
7:14 pm on Sunday, January 29, 2012
Nice job, Parilla! But wish you had called for back up.
And to my fellow Lamorindans: we must remain alert and stand together.
Get your neighborhood organized! Check out "www.nextdoor.com.";
c5
6:39 am on Tuesday, January 31, 2012
agree, this is good police work and good work by the neighbor spotting and notifying of the car that shouldn't be there. we just had a neighborhood watch meeting of all of our neighbors and there are lots of things that each of us can and should do. like it or not, what we do impacts others that live near us. the goal is to make our neighborhoods and our towns unattractive to thieves, instead of the 'fertile ground' that increasingly sophisticated bad guys perceive our area to be. in our case we do a pretty good job (dogs, locked cars and house at all times, alarm that we actually use all the time, etc) but there are a couple of weak spots the police informed us of that we are going to address...and it is important that we all communicate with our neighbors and most important--do not be shy about calling the police if you see anything that you don't think is right. much better to have a 'false alarm' than to regret not calling on something that turned out to be something. we don't have a huge amount of police in lafayette, and the moto cops don't really help much, but the force wants to get the call....
Michael Taylor
10:29 am on Wednesday, February 1, 2012
I wondered if the bad guys were using radios.... it would explain how they're able to get in and out of homes without anyone seeing them. They have access to the same technology as we do....
Bailey Lee
8:50 am on Saturday, February 11, 2012
If this were SF or Oakland, Officer Parilla would have faced charges of profiling. And in the event that any of these "disadvantaged" criminals were illegals, they most certainly would not be deported. And why does anyone wonder why society is going to hell in a handbasket?
Jglorietta
1:47 am on Sunday, March 11, 2012
Scary, a bunch of my neighbors in Glorietta had their mail stolen a month or so ago, and then there were a bunch of break-ins and attempts soon after. Not sure if it was the same ones missing the mail, but it sounds like someone was scoping our hood.