The UC Davis Police Department announced the arrest of a local man Thursday in connection with a recent series of campus burglaries.
According to a news release, officers responded at about 3:30 a.m. to an alarm sounding at the UCD Medical Group clinic on West Covell Boulevard. With assistance from the Davis Police Department, officers set up a perimeter and arrested 35-year-old Bluehawk Elmer Gonzales as he exited the building carrying a cash box.
“While examining property recovered in the arrest, they discovered that Gonzales was in possession of items stolen in several previous campus burglaries,” the news release said.
Campus officials said detectives investigating the burglaries, which began in late October, had already identified Gonzales as a suspect and were assembling a case in collaboration with Davis police and the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office.
Gonzales was booked into Yolo County Jail on charges of burglary, possession of burglary tools, violation of probation and possession of stolen property. Campus and city police are continuing to investigate possible links to other recent burglaries on campus and in the city of Davis, with city police logs showing him arrested this week in connection with four recent commercial burglaries.
“I congratulate our team on their hard work leading up to and in making this arrest,” UCD Police Chief Joseph A. Farrow said. “Nonetheless, I urge the campus community to remain vigilant about security.”
Residents are reminded to keep their doors and windows are locked and secure, and to not let unknown people into buildings or “tailgate” behind you. Valuable items should be kept secured or out of sight and suspicious incidents or behavior reported to police.
Police had increased security patrols on campus following a rash of break-ins at campus buildings, with 15 incidents reported from Oct. 29 to Nov. 9. Anyone with information about recent crimes on campus can report it to UCD police at 530-754-2677.