Auto burglaries skyrocket in SLO County
August 9, 2013
In Arroyo Grande and the five cities area thefts from vehicles tripled in July prompting police to ask residents to lock their cars. More than 60 percent of the recent burglaries were from unlocked cars.
In August, Arroyo Grande police arrested three men suspected of stealing items from vehicles.
In the early morning hours of August 1, officers responding to a disturbance call on Grieb Drive and encountered Matthew Ortega, 23, of Oceano. Officers discovered Ortega was in possession of several recently pilfered items including a driver’s license and credit cards. A nearby resident told police they were not yet aware that the cards had been taken from their unlocked vehicle.
Police arrested Ortega and booked him into the San Luis Obispo County Jail for receiving/concealing stolen property.
On the morning of August 6, one day after a rash of vehicle thefts in Arroyo Grande, officers from Pismo Beach and Arroyo Grande contacted Jesse Cornelison, 23, of Los Osos and Chad Lawrence, 31, of Atascadero in connection with the burglaries.
Officers discovered property from at least 12 car burglaries in Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande and Grover Beach at a hotel the men were staying at in Pismo Beach.
Police arrested Cornelison for receiving/concealing stolen property, as well as two outstanding felony warrants and Lawrence for an outstanding warrant with charges of robbery, burglary, and assault with a deadly weapon. The degree of Lawrence’s involvement in the thefts and receiving stolen property is still under investigation.
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