Lucerne man arrested for burglary, stolen property possession
- Lake County News reports
- Posted On
UPPER LAKE, Calif. – A Lucerne man arrested in November after he was found in possession of a stolen county vehicle and a dead fox has been arrested again, this time for burglaries in Upper Lake.
William Kenneth Pimentel, 27, was taken into custody on Thursday, according to Lt. Corey Paulich of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.
At 7:30 a.m. Thursday Lake County Sheriff’s deputies responded to an address in the 2900 block of West Highway 20 in Upper Lake, Paulich said.
Paulich said residents at that location were reporting the keys to their ATVs were missing. They also reported that one of their ATVs was filled with art work and tools that did not belong to them.
The residents told the deputies that it appeared someone may be in a vacant house nearby, Paulich said.
The deputies checked the vacant house and located the sole occupant, identified as Pimentel, sleeping inside. Paulich said they also found the missing ATV keys near where Pimentel was sleeping.
Pimentel told the deputies he was on probation, but denied stealing anything, Paulich said.
While examining the property that was in the ATV, deputies developed information linking it to an address in the 4100 block of West Highway 20. Paulich said the deputies were able to make contact with residents at this address and determined there had been an unreported burglary to a barn on the property that occurred during the night.
Paulich said the victim of the burglary was able to identify the property found on the ATV as his and estimated the property was worth over $3,000.
The stolen property was returned to the owner and Pimentel was arrested and transported to the Lake County Jail where he was booked on charges of burglary and possession of stolen property, Paulich said.
Pimentel remains in custody with bail set at $50,000, according to jail records.
Pimentel had previously been booked at the Lake County Jail in November related to the theft of a county of Lake pickup, as Lake County News has reported.
The California Highway Patrol officer who arrested Pimentel found fresh white spray paint over the county’s emblems on the doors, as well as recently stolen bank cards within the vehicle which had been used to withdraw a large sum of money the same morning, along with a dead fox in the pickup truck’s bed.
Paulich said Pimentel had been released pending sentencing on that November case.
Pimentel is tentatively scheduled to appear in Lake County Superior Court on Monday, based on his booking records.