Cupertino Rooftop Burglary Suspects Nabbed After Stolen Devices Give Them Away
CUPERTINO (CBS SF) -- Two high-tech burglars who allegedly pulled off a rooftop heist of a Silicon Valley electronics store were captured after tracking devices in the stolen items helped lead police to their location.
The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Department said Tan Nguyen and Marc Tran both were arrested on burglary, conspiracy to commit burglary, and possession of burglary tools charges.
Tran has been released from custody while Nguyen was being held on $120,000 bail in the Santa Clara County Main Jail.
Deputies say the pair allegedly broke into the Verizon Wireless store in Cupertino early Monday morning. The suspects gained entry into the store by cutting a hole in the roof.
They quickly disabled the alarm, video surveillance, and IT wiring prior to making complete entry into the building.
Once inside, the suspects used a saw to cut an opening into a metal door to access the inventory storage room and stole approximately 189 items with a retail value of over $138,000.
"They definitely had some prior knowledge to pull this off," said Santa Clara County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Rich Glennon.
The items included various Apple iPads, iPhones and other Apple products, along with Samsung Galaxy phones.
The burglars appeared to have all their bases covered, except one. "Verizon had other alarms in place so when some of those devices left the building it indicated this was occurring," said Glennon.
Shortly after dispatch got the original burglary call at 5:51 a.m., deputies made an enforcement stop on a silver Lexus sedan stopped underneath Southwest Expressway on Meridian Avenue in San Jose.
The deputies had tracked the signals to the vehicle, and after speaking with the occupants they were able to observe a large amount of electronic devices in the backseat of the vehicle. The deputies were aware of the Verizon burglary and detained the individuals.
Inside the Lexus, deputies recovered all 189 items stolen from the store and returned the stolen items back to Verizon.
Anyone with information on this case was asked to contact the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office at (408) 808-4500. Alternatively, you can contact the Sheriff's Office Investigative Services to remain anonymous.
