Pair arrested in string of auto burglaries in Palo Alto after tracked with victim's device
Palo Alto, Calif. police arrested Treshawn Cortez Villegas, 21, of Stockton, Calif. on suspicion of several crimes related to vehicle break-ins on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022.
Police arrested two men suspected of several vehicle break-ins in and around Palo Alto Thursday night.
The suspects, 22-year-old Azari Benjamin Mays and 21-year-old Treshawn Cortez Villegas, both of Stockton, were arrested after one of the alleged victims was able to track their movements via an electronic device they are suspected of taking from her parked car, according to police.
At about 8:30 p.m. Thursday, calls started coming in to police about a rash of auto break-ins, with many of the victims reporting their vehicles were broken into while they were out to eat.
At about 8:45, a woman whose car was burglarized on the 600 block of San Antonio Road in Mountain View reported that she was tracking her device.
She was able to guide officers to the suspects' 2013 silver Hyundai Elantra rental car, which at the time was the sole car in a parking lot on the 2500 block of West El Camino Real, police said.
Officers followed the car and pulled it over on the 900 block of San Antonio Road in Los Altos at about 9 p.m., according to police.
The pair were arrested and officers found several items, including laptops, backpacks and other electronic devices, allegedly taken from at least eight vehicles that same night, including several in Palo Alto.
The men were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of multiple crimes, including of auto burglary, conspiracy, and possession of burglary tools, police said.