Only One Detective: Neighbors Frustrated By Backlog Of Stockton Burglary Cases
STOCKTON (CBS13) — Neighbors are doing what police say by being good witnesses, but are frustrated crimes aren't being solved.
A few weeks after burglars hit Carlos Gomez's home, he noticed thieves ripping off his neighbor.
"They took a lot of jewelry and video game systems," he said. "I got his license plate number and a picture of it."
The license plate coupled with a fingerprint police lifted from the crime scene led officers to a possible suspect, who may be responsible for Carlos' break-in and others in the the city.
But the suspected burglar is still on the loose.
"It's a little frustrating knowing that I pretty much gave them an easy case to solve."
Budget cuts left the Stockton Police Department with only a single detective tracking down burglars.
"His caseload is just tremendous," said Officer Joseph Silva.
The police department says the only burglary detective is working to link the suspected thief to other burglaries before passing the case along to the district attorney's office to issue an arrest warrant.
"We have one burglary detective, and he's trying to build cases on these burglary cases, so the charges will stick, and they'll stay in jail where they belong."
Since the burglary at Carlos' home, he joined a neighborhood watch, installed a security system and bought a guard dog.
He hopes help to the police department's struggling burglary unit comes soon.
"Maybe they can shift some people from another department and help this guy out. They should be able to provide someone to help this detective."
