Atwater Police arrest car thief again on burglary charges

This morning at around 10:54 a.m., Officer Ken Lee was patrolling Atwater when he saw 23-year-old Jose Maldonado walking in the 5400 block of Vine Street holding power tools. Lee had previously arrested Maldonado on November 29th, 2018 for motor vehicle theft of 5 different vehicles over a 2-week span.

Officer Lee contacted Maldonado and arrested him after locating heroin on him. During the investigation, a stolen green Honda Civic was found on scene. Also, a nearby residence in the 5400 block of Vine Street had been broken into. The tools in Maldonado’s possession were stolen from the residence, and later returned to the owner.

Maldonado was booked into jail for residential burglary, 2 counts of stolen property, grand theft auto, and possession of a controlled substance. This is an example of the unintended consequences of the deceptive criminal reform legislations passed over the last few years.

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