Citizen’s report of suspicious activity at a Danville park leads to burglary arrest

DANVILLE – Multiple people were arrested last Saturday after a citizen called 911 reporting suspicious circumstances at a local park.

According to Danville Public Information Officer Geoff Gillette, at around 5:35 pm on August 4th, a citizen attending a picnic at Sycamore Valley Park observed two men near a red vehicle in the parking lot. Both men, one of them carrying a white clutch purse, entered a nearby white Honda CRV driven by another male subject.

The bystander took a photo of the vehicle as it exited the parking lot and called 911 because she felt the situation seemed odd, Gillette said.

While responding to the incident, Danville Police officer Caruso observed a vehicle traveling westbound on Sycamore Valley Road that matched the vehicle described by the caller. Officer Caruso conducted a traffic stop while Officer Wells located a citizen at the park who confirmed her purse had been stolen. During a search of the suspect vehicle, police located a white “Kate Spade” purse on the floorboard of the vehicle, which was later identified as the one that belonged to the victim.

Gillette said based on the information provided by witnesses, police arrested three of the four vehicle occupants for auto burglary and conspiracy. Police say the suspects are: the driver of the vehicle, Carlos Rodriguez, 36, of North Hills, CA, Warner Cruz, 46, of Van Nuys, CA and Hipolito Torres, 45, of Northridge, CA.