Suspects Were Caught On Video
HOLLISTER—Hollister Police Department cited two juveniles for their part in an incident this month, in which a large concrete cinder block was dropped four floors from the Briggs Building parking garage, causing a significant amount of damage.
On Thursday, August 6th, several juveniles were reportedly seen in the Briggs Building, which houses the Gavilan Junior College and is used as a multi-story parking structure for downtown businesses.
The kids were seen dropping a large piece of concrete from the top of the building, down the stairwell to the first floor. This act caused approximately $400.00 to $500.00 in damage.
Officers who were investigating this incident began looking at available surveillance footage. They found that the video showed a group of juveniles riding the elevator to the fourth floor of the building. Police also found that two of the juveniles were caught on the video dropping the large blocks several times each.
“We were lucky that no one was hurt by the rocks.” Hollister Police Chief David Westrick said, “This is a reminder that parents need to know where their kids are at all times.”
The Hollister School Resource Officer was assigned to the investigation, and with the footage Officer Paddy was able to identify the individuals involved in the incident. As a result, a 13-year-old juvenile and an 11-year-old juvenile were both cited for their involvement on Tuesday, August 25.
The Hollister Police Department has forwarded their investigation over to the district Attorney’s Office for review and prosecution.
And while the names of the juveniles were not released due to their age, the Hollister police did release the names of other suspects charged with vandalism recently. On the morning of Thursday, August 20, Banca Gonzalez, a 31-year-old teacher from Modesto was arrested for misdemeanor vandalism of under $400 damage. She was booked at 10 am and released with a promise to appear in court.
More serious charges were levied on Jesse Garcia Cabrera, a 38-year-old truck assistant from Hollister. He was booked on August 19 for vandalism of over $5,000 damage, along with being drunk in public and violating his probation. He has been arrested at least seven times over the past two years on charges of vandalism, public intoxication, probation violations and contempt of court, disobeying a court order.
