Suspects Were Wanted For Burglary And Vandalism
HOLLISTER—Hollister Police Officer Michael Paddy, working in conjunction with the Hollister School District, made arrests in a March 5 incident at R.O. Hardin Elementary School, in which the school was burglarized as well as vandalized. Arrested were 48-year-old Carlos Orta and 23-year-old Roberto Ramirez Pantoja Jr., both of Hollister.
R.O. Hardin Elementary School
On Thursday, March 5, Hollister Police responded to a call of an interrupted burglary that occurred at Hardin School, located at 881 Line Street in Hollister. When officers arrived they were unable to find any suspects associated with the burglary.
Upon further investigation, police found that the suspects had stolen a large number of electronic devices, and caused over $20,000.00 in damage to the school. Officer Paddy took over the investigation and worked with school administrators to come up with several leads on the stolen devices.
On March 23, the Hollister Police Department served search warrants on three houses in the Hollister Area in conjunction to the stolen devices. Officers were able to locate and recover several of the devices. They even recovered a stolen handgun from an unrelated burglary in 2014.
Officers were able to arrest one of the two juveniles originally responsible for the burglary and vandalism. They also arrested two adults, Orta and Pantoja, and charged them with possession of stolen property. They charged the juvenile with the same offenses.
Police are still working on locating several more of the electronic devices. They have asked that anyone with any knowledge about this incident, or the whereabouts of the devices, to call the Hollister Police Department at 831-636-4330.
