Deputies have arrested 42 year old Ricardo David Garcia of Fresno.
He has been booked into the Fresno County Jail where he faces more than a dozen felony charges. This includes: Burglary, evading a peace officer, committing a felony while out on bail and probation violations. Garcia currently has eight active probations to his name. His bail is set at just over $193,000.
Around 6:30 pm on Saturday, July 18th, a person made a report to the Sheriff’s Office of suspicious activity in the area of Shields and Lassen Avenues in Kerman. Two men were said to be removing license plates from their white sedan, possibly a Ford Crown Victoria. A deputy arrived in the area and passed a similar looking car, which was missing its front license plate. The deputy turned around to make a traffic stop and the driver, later identified as Ricardo Garcia, sped away at more than 70 mph. The deputy continued to pursue the car and requested the assistance of Kerman Police and the Sheriff’s Office helicopter, EAGLE One. After taking several dirt roads and cutting through orchards, Garcia stopped in the area of Whitesbridge and Howard. He and another man, later identified as Ulises Avila, got out and ran. Officers and deputies surrounded the area and eventually arrested both men in a vineyard. A search of their car revealed a set of bolt cutters.
Deputies then became aware of a call from a staff member at Sun Empire Elementary School, 2649 N. Modoc Ave. in Kerman. They reported the burglar alarm had gone off. Deputies responded to the school and discovered a chain had been cut that normally keeps a gate locked. On campus, they found a classroom window smashed open and a portable cart outside with a little more than a dozen laptop computers inside. The school administrator noticed that an additional 32 laptops were missing. Both the evidence and location pointed to Garcia and Avila as being responsible for the burglary.
Deputies did not find any of the laptops inside of Garcia’s car. They also checked the pursuit route, but did not find any computers there either. There is a chance the suspects discarded the laptops in some of the surrounding fields, so the Sheriff’s Office is asking property owners / workers to contact us if they should find any computers.
34 year old Ulises Avila was booked into the Fresno County Jail on charges of burglary, probation violation and resisting arrest. He was released four hours later under Fresno County’s Emergency Zero Dollar Bail Rule.
On February 27th, 2020 property crimes detectives with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ricardo Garcia. He spent a month in a half in jail and bonded out after California’s Zero Dollar Bail Rule lowered his bail substantially to $20,000.
Garcia was arrested for a burglary that took place on February 1st at Fairmont Elementary School, 3095 N. Greenwood Avenue in Sanger. Surveillance cameras captured a Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck driving onto the campus. The man driving the truck and wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt was later identified as Ricardo Garcia. He broke into two classrooms and took two mobile carts, which contained 47 iPads, cases and headphones. He loaded the items into the bed of his truck and drove away. The estimated loss amounted to $37,000.
Sheriff’s detectives also arrested Ricardo Garcia on September 1st, 2015 on 15 counts of felony burglary. At that time, he was investigated for breaking into seven schools, seven churches and one commercial warehouse between March 12th and August 31st, 2015. He stole electronics such as televisions, desktop and laptop computers. Garcia served a two year sentence in the Fresno County Jail.
Anyone with additional information about Garcia or Avila is asked to contact Sgt. Erich Garringer at (559) 600-8388. You may also contact Valley Crime Stoppers at (559) 498-7867 or www.valleycrimestoppers.org You will remain anonymous and may be eligible for a cash reward.
The following videos show Garcia involved in other past burglaries.
