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Two Redwood City men have been arrested and charged in the theft of about $50,000 worth of construction equipment and copper wire, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office said Friday.
The theft, which apparently occurred over the June 10 weekend, was discovered at about 7:30 a.m. Monday, June 12, in the 700 block of Industrial Road in San Carlos, the sheriff’s department said. About an hour later, a police officer reported finding the stolen property about four miles away, at 2nd Avenue and Rolison Road in Redwood City and arrested Jose Cauich, 48, the sheriff’s department said. On Tuesday, detectives served a search warrant in the 900 block of Haven Avenue in Redwood City and arrested Anjel Jimenez, 52, according to the sheriff’s office.
According to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, the foreman of Silicon Valley Mechanical reported that over the weekend, burglars had cut open a fence and stolen approximately $55,000 worth of copper pipes from the fourth floor of the building under construction, and damaged a toolbox worth $1,500, prosecutors said. About an hour later, a ping from an air tag on one of the stolen tools led officers to a white van registered to defendant Cauich on Rolison Road in Redwood City. The van contained 20 new copper pipes, the stolen toolbox, a victim’s backpack with copper fittings, and other stolen property from the work site. The total value of the recovered stolen property was estimated at $8,000.
Cauich and Jimenez have both been charged in the case with commercial burglary, possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit a felony, according to the district attorney’s office.
Anyone with information about this crime or associated commercial burglaries is asked to contact Detective D. Brandt (650) 363-4064 or dbrandt@smcgov.org. Anonymous tips may be left at (800) 547-2700.
Bay City News contributed to this report.
