UPDATE: Lafayette police announced a breakthrough in a case they are working – the first “kick-in” burglary in the city in 2017. This was especially galling for the folks at LPD and they went to work tracking a car believed to have been used in the crime – releasing surveillance photos so the Pit Crew at NEWS24/680 could pin down the year, make, and other pertinent details.
Which you all did. Really quickly! With your help LPD was able to trace the car to a police impound lot in Solano County and recover some of the goods taken in Friday’s burglary in Lafayette (something we hope makes the homeowner a little happier).
The story, from Chief Eric Christensen and the folks at LPD: At 3:36 p.m. Friday, officers were dispatched to a home on Avalon Court for the report of a residential burglary. Upon their arrival, officers searched the home and found no suspect(s) within the residence.
Officers learned the resident had left the home at approximately 11 a.m. and returned at 3:30 p.m. The resident reported that when he drove up to the home, he noticed that safety fencing to one side of his home was knocked over. The fence of the home was being replaced and the safety fencing had been installed as a temporary barrier. Believing the rain had knocked the fencing over, the resident entered their home – realizing an intruder had been inside and notifying police.
CSI personnel responded to the scene and determined the suspect(s) had likely pushed the temporary fencing down to gain entry to the rear yard of the home. Once in the rear yard, CSI’s determined the suspect(s) attempted to open several windows and gained entry to the home by kicking in a rear door of the home. Once inside the home, the suspect(s) searched the interior of the home taking electronics and jewelry.
LPD Officers canvassed the neighborhood and located two neighbors who reported seeing a suspicious vehicle earlier in the morning. Both neighbors reported seeing a similar vehicle and described the vehicle as driving through the neighborhood slowly, looking at the homes. LPD Officers were also able to locate a neighbor with a security camera that captured portions of the street in front of the home. Investigators reviewed the video recordings and discovered a vehicle entering the court and stopping near the burglarized home. Two suspects exited the vehicle and then returned to the vehicle a short time later, leaving the neighborhood.
LPD Investigators reviewed neighborhood cameras from the area and recovered images of the suspect vehicle. The vehicle was found to have a paper (dealer) license plate. LPD Investigators released an image of the vehicle to a local media source, to determine the year of the vehicle. From that, they quickly learned the vehicle was a 2010 Ford Mustang and additional details to narrow the search for the car. LPD Investigators were then able to identify the license plate number and registered owner of the vehicle. Investigators determined the vehicle was actually in police impound following an incident in Solano County. The vehicle had been impounded by CHP Officers in the early morning hours of Feb. 4.
The driver of the vehicle was identified by CHP Officers and released. LPD Investigators responded to the storage facility, verifying this was the same vehicle used in the Lafayette crime. Investigators also found property from the burglary within the vehicle
Our Original Story:
We have a feeling this is going to be a cakewalk for some of our more dedicated car enthusiasts but burglars struck in Lafayette Friday (first kick-in burglary of 2017) and are believed to have used this car.
Can you provide make (fairly easy), model, year of manufacture and horsepower? That last bit is not exactly pertinent to the police investigation but we figured you’d know.
Have at it, gearjammers… and, yes, we see the paper plates!
Chief Eric Christensen said this car rolled into a Lafayette neighborhood Friday, two men got out and entered a targeted home by kicking in the rear door, taking a laptop.
We’ll have more on the burglary once police have a chance to firm up details, hopefully later today.
Might be the same Mustang as captured here: http://patch.com/california/pleasanton/suspected-porch-package-thief-caught-camera-victim-says
Mustang GT?
On my mobile but it looks like a 2010 Mustang V6. Another look at it and soon as I get home.
Looks like our neighbors car which is a 2010 Mustang. I think it’s a v6 I will ask….l
Yes, I can easily guess the make & year of the car…… but I can also guess most likely where it came from and was heading back to. 🙂
The plates point to a dealership in Richmond, Greg. LPD trying to narrow it down a bit more and having the make and year helps with that. They report the car was used in the first “kick-in” burglary in Lafayette this year…
I doubt if the car was actually purchased from the dealership shown on the paper plates & frame- unless the crooks were really stupid- has the dealer would recognize the car and be able to reference to purchase papers. Most likely they stole the paper plates from the used car lot and put them on their own car in order to go out to do some criminal activity.
@Greg – Right. It’s pretty much out in the open that the bad guys have tumbled to the fact that the police are using technology to read plates and have turned to paper plates to defeat that. It’s the way it works, isn’t it? Good guys come up with something, bad guys come up with something to defeat it.
It’s a 2010 V6 Base (not premium). Post MCA puts it 2010-2014, taillights were revised in 2013, so this is 2010-2012, and V6 engine was revised in 2011 (3.7L replaced the 4.0L V6). The new V6 in 2011 came standard with dual exhaust, so this single tailpipe model must be a 2010. These rims were only standard on the base V6, next level up (V6 premium) had different ones. 2010 V6 Base Mustang. Also the decal at the bottom of the door was optional, so that can also help narrow down vehicles to find this one. Best of luck! (Source: FoMoCo employee)
@ZacM – Nailed it! Vehicle has been found. Updating now!
Wow!!
Fast work.
Not exactly the most inconspicuous car.
That’s nice work everybody!