San Jose police have arrested a 25-year-old man and three juveniles in connection with a series of smoke shop burglaries that all featured a similar pattern of a car being used to smash into the businesses, the department announced Thursday.
Police said they investigated more than 10 smoke shop burglaries between March and April. In each burglary, the suspects rammed a stolen Kia or Hyundai vehicle into the businesses to damage the exterior and get inside. The suspects would then steal merchandise before taking off in the stolen vehicle.
Police identified Jose Cabellos of San Jose as one of the primary suspects believed to be responsible for at least eight burglaries, police said. Cabellos, who is believed to have additional accomplices, was arrested on June 16.
Several more similar burglaries occurred into the month of July, police said.
At about 3 a.m. on Monday, an attempted smoke shop burglary happened along the 4700 block of Almaden Expressway, according to police. The suspects took off in a vehicle and then tried to burglarize another smoke shop in Santa Clara.
Santa Clara County sheriff's deputies in the area managed to interrupt the burglary, police said. The suspects fled in the vehicle but later crashed. Three juveniles were taken into custody and booked into juvenile hall.
All of the suspects are believed to be responsible for other commercial burglaries outside San Jose, police said.
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