Spree of thefts from unlocked cars continues

The man who escaped a police search after crashing a stolen truck on Trinity Road may be linked to more than 25 thefts from unlocked cars in the area.

At about 4 a.m. on May 31, a resident in the 100 block of Trinity Road woke up after hearing his truck start up. He arose to see a man in the stolen truck turning around in the driveway.

The resident yelled at the suspect, who ended up crashing the truck into the automatic gate as it was closing. The suspect ran from the truck and dropped what turned out to be a BB gun. He is described as thin white male, 6 feet tall.

Deputies responded to the resident’s 911 call and set up a search perimeter, which the suspect evaded.

The investigation led to recent reports that 20 unlocked vehicles had items stolen from them while parked in driveways on Trinity Road, Sylvia Drive and Bonnie Drive in Glen Ellen. During the prior week there had also been a rash of petty thefts from unlocked vehicles on Bennett Valley Road, Grange Road and Los Alamos Road.

Typically stolen from the cars were GPS devices, vehicle keys, garage door openers and loose change.

At least three vehicles have been stolen during the spree. Each of those was also unlocked and had keys left inside. The stolen cars were recovered on the east side of Santa Rosa.

Sgt. Michael Raasch said the same suspect is likely involved in all the cases, none of which have shown evidence of forced entry

In one case the suspect got to a victim’s car by scaling a closed and locked gate. The suspect stole loose change and the used the garage door opener to access yet another vehicle.

The suspect entered the garage and accessed another unlocked vehicle inside the garage.

The suspect then ransacked the vehicle at which time the suspect stole the victim’s car keys and a GPS device. The suspect did all this while the residents were asleep in their home. 


Detectives are researching other theft reports.