Deputies Recover About 15K In Stolen Goods

An investigation has led to two arrests in a Shingletown burglary. On January 16th a burglar alarm brought deputies to a house on Brookside Meadows. They found a Toyota 4Runner in the driveway attached to a trailer full of things from the house, but there was nobody around. They started to follow some footsteps in the snow but it was getting dark and their radios weren’t working well so they went back to the house. Two cell phones in the Toyota were linked to 30-year-old Travis Malbeck of Cottonwood and 41-year-old Billy Blue John Gonzalez of Anderson. When the owners of the house, who live elsewhere, picked up their things two days later, a lot was still missing and it was clear that the thieves had already hauled away a load of stuff and deputies had arrived to interrupt their 2nd trip. A surveillance system recovered from the trailer showed the thieves, but not their faces. However, one of the men had a distinctive arm injury that caused it to bend inward. When Gonzalez was arrested Thursday on a suspicious person call on Vogt Lane in Anderson, the deputy noticed he had the same bend to his arm. On Friday deputies went looking for Malbeck at his home in the Amberwood Mobile Home Park. Deputies say he admitted to the theft and much of the stolen goods were found there, at his mother’s home, and at his mother’s boyfriend’s home. Gonzalez was then questioned about the burglary and he, too, admitted to it, according to the sheriff’s office. About $15,000 worth of property was recovered, but some is still missing.

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