Ione, CA – Four suspected thieves were caught not while burglarizing a residence, but instead leaving an Ione bar with bad license plates, and a search of their vehicle turned up burglary tools.
The traffic stop occurred recently outside the Buena Vista Saloon in Ione after an Amador County Sheriff’s Office deputy spotted a vehicle with license plates that did not belong to it. While questioning the four occupants, the deputy noticed, in plain view inside the vehicle, a debit card with a different name than those inside, several burglary tools, and multiple U.S. Postal Service mailbox master keys attached to the driver’s keychain.
A search of the vehicle uncovered dozens of pieces of mail, checkbooks and checks, bank cards, multiple USPS mailbox and P.O. Box keys, vehicle titles, a USPS uniform and mailbag, methamphetamine, and burglary tools, including a crowbar, bolt cutters, saws, and a vehicle unlocking tool.
Deputies also ran a records check on the suspects. Two were on probation for identity theft-related offenses in other counties. Additionally, one of them gave her sister’s name instead of her own, according to sheriff’s officials.
All four unidentified individuals were arrested on various felony burglary charges, and this investigation remains ongoing.
