A gaggle of teenage boys are in custody after police say they stole automobiles and drove them into storefronts across the Bay Space in a collection of burglaries beginning on Christmas Eve.
The boys vary in age from 14 to 16 and burglarized a number of companies over three months, the San Jose Police Division introduced in a information launch Monday.
In surveillance footage from a housebreaking in March, the teenagers hooked up a sequence to the again of a automotive and ripped away the entrance door to a liquor retailer. They ransacked the shop and stuffed the stolen items within the automotive trunk. The clanking of glass bottles might be heard within the safety footage.
The primary incident was reported on Christmas Eve.
In that incident, police mentioned 4 suspects drove a automobile right into a enterprise off Almaden Highway close to a freeway and ransacked it. The suspects have been gone by the point police arrived and within the weeks that adopted, dozens of comparable incidents with autos being pushed into buildings have been reported.
However officers say legislation enforcement lastly caught as much as the crew on March 25 by a collection of run-ins throughout San Jose. It began after they allegedly stole two autos from a house round 3 a.m., then tried to carjack somebody close by about quarter-hour later. Police mentioned the suspects used a gun to chase off a automobile proprietor who confronted them after they broke into his automotive and it set off the alarm, permitting all of them to flee.
However roughly half-hour later, police mentioned they discovered suspects in two of the autos in downtown San Jose after getting successful on a license plate reader.
When officers tried to tug the autos over, they refused to cease and bought away — however solely briefly. One of many autos was ultimately discovered disabled on a freeway onramp and after a foot chase, one suspect was captured. A second suspect in that automotive who pointed a gun at an officer bought away, police mentioned.
Two extra crew members have been captured after 4 a.m. after a police pursuit, officers mentioned. One suspect used their automotive to ram a police cruiser throughout their tried escape.
In some unspecified time in the future, San Jose Police investigators discovered that police in Santa Clara have been additionally investigating comparable crimes of their jurisdiction, and the three remaining crew members have been recognized and warrants issued for his or her arrest.
On June 17, they have been taken into custody at houses in Milpitas and San Jose. Two ladies associated to the teenagers who have been accused of discarding proof, receiving stolen property, contributing to a minor and resisting arrest have been additionally arrested, in accordance with police.
Throughout a search of the houses, investigators discovered a loaded journal for a firearm, ski masks, key fobs for autos, a software used to entry automobile diagnostic data, a number of duplicate firearms, ammunition and metal chains.
