Police have arrested two people accused of operating a theft ring that broke into cars parked at funerals, schools, churches and special events, and investigators have recovered hundreds of purses and other stolen items.
More arrests are pending, police said Wednesday.
The first arrest last week was of Ernesto Castanuela Jr., 30, of Greeley, and police say he was the ringleader of a group that specialized in quickly stealing from parked cars.
According to a police affidavit regarding Castanuela, on Saturday, a police officer had Castanuela under surveillance and saw him drive into the Frontier Academy parking lot while a baseball game was being played.
The officer saw Castanuela’s car leaving the lot after it was parked between two cars for just a few minutes. The officer checked on the cars where Castanuela parked and found that one car had two windows broken. Subsequent investigation revealed more than $1,200 in electronic equipment — including an iPod and a laptop computer — were stolen from the car.
Officers stopped Castanuela’s car and arrested him and his passenger, Kimberly Nunez, 32, of Greeley.
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