The Santa Clara Sheriff’s Department has arrested a pair of San Jose men for allegedly stealing more than $1,000 worth of meat from a Safeway store on Homestead Road.
Herson Almeyda-Patino, 39, and Anderson Tolozavargas, 34, both of San Jose, have been charged with grand theft and conspiracy, both felonies. Neither man has a criminal background.
On Dec. 28, just before 11 a.m., the manager at the Safeway on Homestead Road in Cupertino called the Sherrif’s Department after an employee said he witnessed the two men loading a cart with ribeye and other prime cuts of meat.
Sgt. Russell Davis, the public information for the sheriff’s department, said the men basically just loaded the cart and walked out the front door to their car, making no attempt to conceal the theft.
An employee followed the thieves to the parking lot and got the license plate of their black Toyota Prius, Davis said. Less than an hour later, deputies arrested the men at the home where the car was registered.
On social media Sunday, the sheriff’s department posted that the “only thing well done here is the teamwork!”
Davis said deputies do not understand the motive.
“The amount of meat that was stolen was definitely for more than two people,” Davis said.
In November, Californians clawed back a law that exempts theft under $950 from felony charges.
While Davis said that “large heist-type” theft has increased over the past few years, he declined to comment on how the law plays into the Safeway theft or how the law is likely to affect property crime.
“It is hard to say because it is so early. We can’t determine for a newly passed law what is the trend and what will happen,” Davis said. “It is kind of a unique one.”
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