Community vigilance proved its worth last week when an alert resident at Santa Clara's Ohlone-Chynoweth light rail station tipped off authorities to a theft in progress, nipping a potentially costly crime in the bud. The Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office detailed the incident on their social media, reporting that deputies were dispatched posthaste following the 9-1-1 call initiated by the observant citizen. According to the Sheriff's Office, Deputies Fierros, Bryant, Nguyen, and Sgt. Evangelho arrived swiftly to find the suspect, Gregory Ortega, in the midst of a heist.
The scene unfolded with Ortega, a 38-year-old San Jose resident with a known criminal record, in the act of stripping sheathing from wires he had presumably cut, drawing to a close an operation that would have otherwise cost the county dearly. Nearly 60 feet of copper wire were reported stolen, resulting in damages estimated at approximately $30,000.
Ortega, who was already on probation for a prior burglary, was apprehended at the site, and the materials in question were recovered, preventing the crime from spreading further into the municipal community.
