Deputies Drawn By Back Door Activities In The Dark Arrest Two
San Andreas, CA – A concentration of criminal activities drawing enhanced enforcement observation to a community has led to a pair of burglary arrests.
According to Calaveras County Sheriff’s spokesperson Sgt. Greg Stark, a string of thefts and burglaries recently in the Burson area triggered extra patrols as part of an increased community policing effort that also included targeted analysis of criminal activities, determining patterns and best ways to allocate available enforcement resources.
In fact, during the early hours Saturday, a man and woman, apprehended in Burson during an enforcement stop linked to minor traffic violations, may have been caught redhanded. Stark says deputies’ suspicions were heightened since their SUV had been backed up to a locked auto wrecking business on Highway 12, and items found in the back of it looked like they could have been linked to it.
Stark recounts the driver, 43-year-old Steven Aurthur Williams of Valley Springs and his passenger, 38-year-old Jeanine Marie Priest of Volcano, were pulled over as they attempted to leave the property. Subsequently contacted and notified of the activity, the business owner was immediately able to confirm that the goods were in fact stolen from the premises.
The two were transported to Calaveras County Jail. Each now faces felony charges of burglary and conspiracy to commit a crime as well as possession of burglary tools. Williams, also charged with felony probation violation, is being held without bail. Priest was assigned a $35,000 bond.
Stark says investigators working on the case will also be looking into whether either or both the suspects may be possibly linked to any other reported burglaries and thefts in the Burson area.
