Lafayette police said a nondescript mini-van used in two recent burglaries in their city, and possibly elsewhere in The Numbers, was located Tuesday – in San Francisco.
Police Chief Eric Christensen said camera images of the car involved (above) and a description of the suspects was circulated to local police jurisdictions in the wake of the burglaries and on Tuesday resulted in a “hit” from San Francisco police, who reported that the suspect car was routinely parked at an unspecified location in San Francisco.
Christensen said his investigators traveled to the city and were on hand when San Francisco police found the car with three people matching the description of participants in two burglaries on Sweet Drive and Hilltop Road this month inside.
The three were identified and later released. Chief Christensen said his investigators are building a case against the trio and are looking for a fourth individual believed connected to the crimes in Lafayette.
UPDATE: Subsequent to our story, other local residents have contacted NEWS24-680 and informed us that this van and its occupants may have been involved in other local burglaries – including one in the Northridge neighborhood in Danville on April 2, which netted the thieves approximately $100,000, mostly in jewelry. A small safe was also taken in that break-in, one neighbor said. Neighbors supplied us with a photo of a van they said was “very similar” to the one seen in their area at the time of the break-in. Similarities between their picture and the police photo of the van found Tuesday are readily apparent.
Damn tourists.
$100000? Ouch.
Scary.
Looks like a crew unafraid of the consequences. Probably been doing this for a long long time.