San Luis Obispo Police arrested two Santa Maria men for suspicion of breaking into vehicles and stealing items, stealing motorcycles and attempting to run over officers while trying to escape.
According to SLOPD Sgt. Chad Pfarr, police got a call at 2 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1 of two suspicious men in a U-Haul box truck on Augusta Street in SLO.
“The caller reported the U-Haul passenger had exited the truck and used something to break the windows out of a vehicle in the 2900 block of Augusta,” Sgt. Pfarr said. “The suspect removed items from the parked car and the U-Haul left the area.”
Police soon found the truck driving down Ella Street and hit the emergency lights to try and stop the vehicle, but instead of yielding, the driver reportedly hit the gas and aimed the truck “directly towards the officer’s driver’s door,” Sgt. Pfarr said. “The officer was able to take evasive action and narrowly avoided being hit by the suspect’s truck. The U-Haul collided with a parked car that was immediately adjacent to the officer’s driver’s side door.”
The truck kept going but was found abandoned a short distance away. The two suspects had escaped on foot.
“Once the U-Haul was secured by officers they discovered items of suspected stolen property from several recent vehicle burglaries,” Sgt. Pfarr said. “Also in the truck was a motorcycle suspected of being stolen.”
Fortunately for police, the master criminals left incriminating evidence behind. “Documents and fingerprints located in the U-Haul helped investigators identify the suspects.”
SLOPD enlisted the help of the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office and the next day they were able to track down the two suspects while they were driving in Santa Maria.
The two men, identified as Antonio Tanner-Galvez, 24 and Alberto Macias, 22 both of Santa Maria, were arrested without incident and booked into SLO County Jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, second degree burglary, being felons in possession of a ammunition, felony and reckless evading a peace officer, hit and run, and felony vandalism (over $400 damage).
Macias was also charged with alleged possession of burglary tools. Each had bail set at $70,000.
Also, “Tanner-Galvez is a suspect in approximately 10 other stolen vehicle investigations being conducted by the San Luis Obispo Police Department,” Sgt. Pfarr said. “Each of those cases involve motorcycles and several include the theft of trailers.”
And police are investigating the pair’s possible involvement in a series of car break-ins along Los Osos Valley Road over the past several weeks, though charges in those eight or so cases have not yet been filed.
If readers have information related to either Macias, or Tanner-Galvez or any of these crimes, you are encouraged to call SLOPD at 781-7312 or Crime Stoppers at 549-STOP.
By Neil Farrell
