CALIFORNIA COMPUTER THIEVES ARRESTED cbs5.com - Local Wire
Sat, 13 Sep 2008 05:35

SSF: TWO MEN ARRESTED AFTER THURSDAY NIGHT BURGLARY

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)

A license plate number reported by a witness led to the arrest of two San Francisco men who allegedly stole a computer from a vehicle Thursday night, according to South San Francisco police.

Police received a report at about 6:30 p.m. Thursday of two suspects breaking into a car in the 200 block of South Airport Boulevard in South San Francisco.

A window was smashed in the victim's vehicle and a laptop computer bag containing a Dell computer was allegedly taken, police said.

The witness report of a license plate number eventually enabled police to locate the suspects' vehicle in San Francisco, according to police.

Leonard Stallings, 27, and Tavares Waters, 28, were identified as the suspects in the incident and were arrested after the power cord for the stolen computer was found in the cord during a probation search of Waters' vehicle, police said.

Further investigation revealed that Stallings and Waters had sold the stolen laptop computer prior to being detained by police.

A digital camera was also found in the vehicle, which is believed to have been stolen during another burglary.

Police have received reports of a series of auto burglaries in the past several months in the parking lots of hotels and restaurants near the U.S. Highway 101 and South Airport Boulevard corridor.

The suspects in these crimes were believed to usually drive to San Francisco to immediately sell the stolen property while discarding unwanted luggage and other items while on their way to San Francisco, according to police.

Police said that investigation into Stallings and Waters' involvement in the previous burglaries is continuing.

The two men face charges of burglary and conspiracy and were booked into the San Mateo County Jail, police said.

Anyone with information regarding the burglaries is encouraged to contact the South San Francisco Police Department Investigations Division at (650) 877-8910.

(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )