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Modesto robbery unit shift results in efficient 'think tank'Mar 20, 2011 (The Modesto Bee - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- A police officer on every corner could guarantee a reduction in crime, but it's a scenario that will never occur. However, with "old-fashioned police work" and help from the public, Modesto's detectives recently prevented two robberies and converged on another in progress. Detectives Mike Freudenthal and Eric Beffa were conducting surveillance on the home of robbery suspect Reynaldo Morales, 19, on the day he and a 16-year-old boy are suspected of planning to rob the Little Caesars Pizza on east Whitmore Avenue. The teens also are suspected of two other robberies on the pizza franchise in just over a month. The detectives determined the suspects were committing the robberies on Thursdays, when employees were leaving the restaurant with a weekly money drop. They followed the suspects to the Whitmore location and intervened before the two teens carried out the crime. They found loaded handguns in the suspects' car, and Morales later implicated himself in three other robberies during an interview with detectives. Freudenthal, in part, credits the robbery unit's success to a recent reorganization. Modesto's robbery unit was grouped with its homicide counterpart until September, when Chief Mike Harden merged robbery with special investigations, which looks into prostitution, gambling and vice crimes. Before, there were two robbery detectives who also worked homicides, a crime that takes precedence. Now the group of five detectives and one sergeant has more manpower to investigate and prevent robberies through surveillance, sharing information with allied agencies and local patrol officers, research, work with business owners and the use of informants and eye witnesses. "With all of us working together, it is a pretty effective criminal think tank," Freudenthal said. Harden said he developed the reorganization after seeing several alarming surges in robberies last year. During March 2010, robberies spiked 44 percent compared with the same time the previous year. Increases also were seen in May, July and August. "Robberies are a very violent and personal crime, and it is very indiscriminate," Harden said. Robberies surged again during the holiday shopping season, but data from the first two months of 2011 shows an 11 percent decrease compared with the same time in 2010. "It is a very small sample size, but it looks very promising," Harden said. Discarded clothing Freudenthal said that a positive outcome, as in the case of Little Caesars, encourages people to come forward with information. The day after three men robbed the Oakdale Road Auto Zone in August, a resident called to say there were clothes in his garbage can that didn't belong to him. The clothes matched those worn by the suspects in security camera footage of the robbery. The new team of detectives sent the clothes to the Department of Justice for DNA testing. In the meantime, they conducted surveillance and followed up on other leads. Working with other agencies, detectives learned that the team of robbers had been targeting auto parts stores all over the San Joaquin Valley. "A lot of these guys will bounce around from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and we are always in contact with other agencies," Beffa said. A tip led detectives to Tracy. They arrived at the same time the robbers were pointing guns at employees of an O'Reilly Auto Parts store on Tracy Boulevard. Anthony Ballard, 25, of Modesto was arrested. Two other men fled, and a three-hour manhunt through a nearby trailer park ensued. After searching 73 homes, law enforcement arrested Michael Morris, 24, and Terrance Savoy, 23, both of Oakland. Sgt. Alex Bettis said the men robbed every location similarly. Two of the suspects would do a "take-over," using weapons to threaten employees and customers, while the third suspect hid behind a display case near the door and watched for passers-by. Freudenthal said most serial robbers will target the same type of stores because they are familiar with the layout, know where the safes are kept and the routines of the employees. The routine makes the criminals more efficient, but it also makes them easier to catch. Suspicious behavior noted Many robbers will case a location before making a move. Observant residents have helped detectives identify would-be robbers by their suspicious behavior. A man-and-woman team moving from one parking space to the next near a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Modesto caught the attention of a shopper who notified police. Plainclothes detectives arrived and watched as a woman left the store and gave her male companion a nonverbal signal to move in. The two were detained and found with two-way radios and a knife. They were arrested on suspicion of attempted robbery. Surveillance can take months, as in the case of the auto parts store robbers, or minutes, as in the case of Big 5. The detectives won't divulge details of surveillance, but in short, they are watching for behavior that will build a case against the criminals and lead to an arrest. If the robbery has just occurred, a robbery detective's first tool is the assistance of witnesses. One witness went as far as chasing three armed bank robbers as they drove away from the Oak Valley Bank on Dale Road in Modesto last month. The witness, on the phone with dispatchers, followed the men to Pelandale Avenue and Gagos Way, where they dumped their getaway car and ran. All three were arrested. But a witness needn't put himself in harms way to be helpful. "One of the best things a citizen can do is just be a good witness," Beffa said. "The more details we can get, the easier it makes our job." The detectives stressed that every tip or detail, no matter how small, is worth reporting, because it is the combination of all the information that helps detectives build a case. "You might just have a partial license plate, but just one little piece of information can break into an entire robbery crew that is coming from the Bay Area," Freudenthal said. Bee staff writer Erin Tracy can be reached at [email protected] or 578-2366. To see more of The Modesto Bee, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.modbee.com/. Copyright (c) 2011, The Modesto Bee, Calif. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For more information about the content services offered by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), visit www.mctinfoservices.com. |