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Burglary suspects get stuck while trying to flee

by The AV Times Staff • November 8, 2011

Deputies say two burglary suspects got their U-Haul truck stuck in a field adjacent to the property they had just burglarized, then asked the victim for help in removing the vehicle.

PALMDALE – Two suspects were arrested Friday morning after their getaway vehicle got stuck in a field next to the location they had just burglarized, according to Palmdale Sheriff’s Deputies.

William Gallardo, 32, and Joseph Rakisits, 29, both from Tehachapi were booked at the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station Friday on charges of burglary, grand theft, and receiving stolen Property.

Deputies say the back of the U-Haul held items taken from a work shed on the victim's property.

According to a Sheriff’s report, deputies responded to the 2200 Block of West Avenue N-8 around 7:50 a.m. Friday when a resident claimed two suspects were stealing items from his work shed.

The victim was walking his dog when he noticed a U-Haul truck stuck in the dirt in a vacant lot that backed up to his property. The two suspects approached the victim and asked if he would help them get their vehicle out of the hole they had dug and get them on their way. It was then that the victim noticed his chain link fence had been cut and several of his items were in the back of the suspects’ U-Haul truck.

The victim quickly returned to his home, notified authorities, and began taking photos of the suspects throwing some of his belongings out of the truck and into the bushes. When deputies arrived they detained both suspects and identified that the back of the U-Haul was full of items taken from a work shed on the victim’s property near where a hole had been cut in the property’s fence line.

Both suspects claimed they were looking for a friend’s house when they wandered into an overgrown lot and got their vehicle stuck while trying to turn around. They also claimed that the items in their truck were from an estate sale in the Orange County area. What they could not explain was how the hole in the victim’s fence, which was mere feet from the vehicle, occurred or why the property they had in the back of the vehicle, was the same as the property that was missing from the victim’s work shed. The items that were taken from the home included tools, sport memorabilia, and electronics.

Gallardo is currently being held on $50,000 bail while Rakisits is being held on $200,000 bail due to an outstanding arrest warrant stemming from a DUI case. Both suspects are scheduled to be arraigned today at the Antelope Valley Courthouse.

(Information via press report from the Palmdale Sheriff’s Station)

Filed Under: Crime/ Safety, Palmdale

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