Carson City arrests: Man admits to vehicle burglary, steals wallet and phone charger
A 22-yer-old man was arrested Wednesday for suspicion of a vehicle burglary that happened last month, according to a Carson City Sheriff's Office booking report.
Jose Gallegos was taken into custody at 2:30 p.m. following the investigation. According to the report, on July 21, deputies responded to a report of a vehicle burglary at a Woodside Drive apartment complex. The victim advised they parked their 2008 GMC Envoy with temporary plates overnight between buildings.
They left the vehicle unlocked. When they went back to the vehicle, they discovered a wallet with a Social Security card, their infant son's Social Security card, Medicaid and Nevada ID card and a debit card was stolen, along with a phone charger/bluetooth connector.
The victim canceled their debit card and no suspicious activity was reported. The victim was concerned someone could use the Social Security cards for fraudulent purposes, the report states.
The vehicle was dusted for latent prints, recovering several from the passenger door handle and edge of the door itself. The prints appeared fresh and were recovered for evidence.
The deputy canvassed the area, which is a tightly packed apartment complex. The deputy submitted information to dispatch for National Crime Information Center entry and the latent print cards were submitted to the crime lab for evaluation, the report states.
On Tuesdy, the deputy was notified from the crime lab that one of the latent prints from the passenger door handle returned as a positive match to Jose Gallegos. The deputy checked the man's local history and discovered he was currently in Carson City Jail custody.
The deputy contacted the victim who advised they know Gallegos and recalled he was in front of the apartment building the night of the burglary. The victim advised they never allowed him into her vehicle and his fingerprints shouldn't have been on her car for any authorized reason. The victim stated they do know get along with the man but that her boyfriend spoke with Gallegos briefly outside of the apartment on the night of the burglary, according to the report.
On Wednesday the deputy conducted an interview with Gallegos inside the Carson City jail. The interview was audio and visually recorded with a body camera. Gallegos was read his Miranda warning and he was advised of a vehicle burglary investigation. Gallegos agreed to speak. The officer encouraged him to be honest.
The deputy notes Gallegos made no attempt to lie at any point. He admitted to entering the victim's vehicle without permission through the passenger side door, which was unlocked. He said he knew he messed up but really needed a phone charger, which he could see inside the vehicle. He admitted to stealing the phone charger and the victim's wallet, the report states.
He admitted he stashed the wallet under the front seat of a broken down vehicle in the complex parking lot in which he had been sleeping. He described the vehicle as a broken-down work truck with a small crane attached to the bed. The deputy provided an aerial map, in which the suspect then pointed to the vehicle, which was parked in the southeast corner of the Stanton Arms parking lot.
The suspect expressed remorse for the situation and agreed to write a statement and apology letter, the report notes. The deputy responded to Woodside Drive and located the vehicle the suspect described. The vehicle owner was contacted who confirmed he suspected someone was sleeping in the truck. The owner gave the deputy permission to enter the truck and retrieve the stolen property.
The deputy located the wallet under the front seat. The phone charger was not present. All items listed as being in the wallet at the time of the burglary were present. The wallet was put into evidence. The suspect was booked for felony burglary of a motor vehicle. Bail: $25,000.
In other arrests:
— A 56-year-old Carson City man was arrested for a misdemeanor warrant out of Sparks and for misdemeanor possession f drug paraphernalia. Bail: $2,257.
— A 35-year-old Marysville, Calif., man was booked for two misdemeanor failure to appear, contempt of court warrants issued out of Carson Township Court. No bail hold in lieu of hearing.
— All information for the crime log (unless otherwise noted) comes from the arrest reports supplied by the Carson City Sheriff's Office, and is considered by law to be public information. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The policy of Carson Now is to name anyone who is arrested for a felony offense.