It was Saturday morning in Santa Rosa, and a woman living on South E Street, near the Highway 101 and Highway 12 interchange, had parked her car in front of her home, and left her purse inside, likely with plans to return soon. She had locked the car, and probably felt it was safe. But at just after 8 am, she heard a noise out front, and investigating, found that the car window had been broken, and her purse was missing.
According to a report from the Santa Rosa PD, she called the police, and officers were dispatched to the scene. Meanwhile, a neighbor happened to see a strange sight – two men running down the street, one carrying a woman’s purse. They jumped into a waiting vehicle with a woman driving, and the car sped away. The witness was curious enough to read and copy down the license plate. The witness reported the incident to the police right away.
Because of the location of this new report, police were able to connect the incidents right away, and identified the vehicle as being registered to Dennis and Rebecca Dickens, who live on Inglewood Drive, less than two miles from the reported burglary, on the other side of both freeways. The officers headed that way to try to intercept the car, or catch it at the Dickens’ house.
Dennis and Rebecca Dickens – image from Facebook
When they got to the area, they found the car still in transit, and pulled it over. Inside were the married couple Dennis and Rebecca Dickens, 40 and 33-years old, along with Justin Story, 36 and also from Santa Rosa. The three were detained without any resistance, and the woman’s purse was found inside the car. Witnesses were also able to positively identify the three as the burglars.
What drove these three to commit such a brazen day-time burglary, and attract attention to themselves in trying to get away? Especially since the Dickens’ appear to be parents of at least one toddler girl. Did the purse in the car appear to be so valuable that it was impossible to resist? Their histories may give some clue to their reasoning, which indicates the need for money to purchase drugs as a potential motivator.
Available arrest records show that Dennis Dickens was in a lot of trouble in 2007 and 2008. He was arrested for possession of a controlled substance, a narcotic controlled substance, and paraphernalia in June of 2007. In August he was charged with possession of a syringe, a controlled substance, and burglary tools. He was arrested the next month for burglary and an outstanding warrant. And in November he was charged with burglary, grand theft, petty theft with a prior, possession of burglary tools, resisting arrest, and battery. In March 2008 he was arrested for possession of controlled narcotics and paraphernalia.
In June 2011 he was charged with possession of a hypodermic needle and for keeping an animal in a confined space without caring for it. More recently, on Christmas day of 2013 he was arrested on an unspecified warrant. And in April of 2014 he was charged with disorderly conduct – public intoxication and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Rebecca Dickens (Facebook)
Rebecca Dickens‘ record is much shorter. She was charged in April of 2013 with possession of a narcotic controlled substance, and in September of 2014 with possession of stolen property and violating her probation.
Based in his extensive history, Justin Story may have been the “ringleader” – at least he’s been arrested far more than the other two. Records going back to 2005 show an arrest in February for possession of a dangerous weapon. Later that year, in November, he was charged with reckless driving, DUI, and hit and run, along with evading officers with wanton disregard for public safety, resisting arrest, and possession of both a dangerous weapon and a hypodermic syringe.
In 2008 he was twice charged with parole violations along with public intoxication and possession of a hypodermic needle. In November 2010 he was charged as an accessory to a crime and violating parole.
In March of 2011 he was picked up on an outstanding warrant, and charged with resisting arrest. In September he was arrested for public intoxication and violating parole. The year wrapped up with a December charge of vehicle theft and hit and run with property damage.
After a year and a half break, likely from serving time, he was back in custody in June 2013 for public intoxication and probation violations, charges that were repeated in August. In October he faced burglary, public intoxication, and resisting arrest charges, along with another probation violation. June of 2014 saw another intoxication and probation arrest.
This year began with a January 9 charge of vandalism with less than $400 damage, tampering with someone’s vehicle, and violating probation. On January 26 he was arrested for disorderly conduct – public intoxication, and violating probation. In February he was arrested for violating a domestic relations court order, and a week later on an outstanding warrant. His most recent arrest prior to the purse stealing incident was once again for disorderly conduct – public intoxication at a home on South Davis Street in central Santa Rosa (not his residence). He was also charged with the usual probation violation.
When Story, along with Dennis and Rebecca Dickens were arrested this time, they were all three charged with criminal conspiracy, possession of stolen property, and probation violations. The two men were also charged with burglary.Anyone with additional information about this case is encouraged to call Sergeant Kyle Philip of the Santa Rosa police at 707-543-4016.
