TEXAS COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM BUSINESSESThe Bryan-College Station Eagle > LocalJailed man confesses to rash of area burglaries

Gives police tour of homes where break-ins occurred

By MELISSA SULLIVAN
Eagle Staff Writer


A man already in jail on burglary charges told police that he is responsible for almost 100 burglaries committed over the last month in the Bryan-College Station area, officials said Thursday.

Bryan resident Clyne Thomas Sanders, 22, was arrested Sunday and accused in the burglary of Dealers Lighting last week, but police said they suspected he was responsible for more break-ins across the region.

Their suspicions were confirmed two days later when investigators with the Bryan and College Station police departments, as well as the Brazos County Sheriff's Department, questioned Sanders.

During the interview, Sanders told authorities he had committed 85 burglaries in Bryan and 12 in College Station since mid-July, according to Officer Walt Melnyk, spokesman for Bryan police. Sanders led investigators on a five-hour tour, showing them where he committed the crimes and where he sold the stolen property, Melnyk said.

Most of the crimes took place at businesses, where televisions, guns, VCRs, camcorders, computers and other items were stolen, police said.

About 24 hours after talking to Sanders, officers with Bryan and the county, as well as the Brazos Valley Narcotics Task Force, coordinated a sting operation at the residence from which Sanders said he was selling the stolen merchandise, Melnyk said.

An undercover officer then went to the house on Turkey Creek Road and sold some items to four men who knew the property was stolen, Melnyk said, declining to detail how the four knew the property had been pilfered.

After searching the house, officers recovered numerous items believed to be stolen property.

The four men - Luis Orocio Navarro, 26; Benjamin Romero-Villarreal, 22; Abraham Hernandez-Trejoe, 23; and Brigdo Romero Villarreal, 26 - were arrested and charged with theft. Each was released from the Brazos County Jail on Wednesday after posting $2,000 bail.

Sanders remained at the Brazos County Jail late Thursday on $261,500 bond. Using fingerprint evidence, detectives were able to charge Sanders with three more burglaries in Bryan, bringing the total late Thursday to four, Melnyk said, adding that the case remained under investigation.