Police investigating series of burglaries

CLOVIS — Local police have recovered at least two trucks stolen this week, with other recent property crime cases still under investigation.

On Monday night, at least two home burglaries were reported on the same street on the city's west side.

In one, a couple returned around 8:45 p.m. to their residence on the 1000 block of Cypress Street to find "the back sliding glass door had been destroyed and their house had been ransacked," according to a police report. A 19-inch TV was missing, the bed was overturned and furniture cushions were pulled out.

"There was a broken wine bottle mixed in with the broken door glass. In the bedroom, a jewelry box was on the floor and laying in front of it was a folding razor comb that does not belong to (the residents)," the reporting CPD officer wrote of the single item taken into evidence. "Suspects are unknown."

In another incident on the same street, residents Barb and Danny Garcia came home about 9 p.m. that night to find their front and back door wide open, dogs running loose, lights on and a truck missing from their driveway.

"Danny went immediately into our garage and saw that all (nine) of our hunting rifles were gone," Barb Garcia told The News on Wednesday. "It took me a minute to process what was going on. ...You always say, 'Oh, it won't happen to me, it won't happen to us. ... We've gotten very little sleep since Monday.'"

Barb Garcia said her husband immediately called the police as she took inventory of what else was missing, including her purse, jewelry, fishing rods, a camera, a watch and "even rare antique coins."

Much of the missing items had yet to be recovered, but early Wednesday morning police came to the Garcia residence with some good news: officers located their white Ford F250 pickup truck overnight, abandoned in a field behind Bella Vista Elementary school.

Since the truck keys taken from inside the house were not found with the vehicle, the Garcias have yet to determine if there was any internal damage. None of the other missing property had been located as of Thursday night, and the investigation is ongoing.

Danny Garcia said surveillance cameras have since been installed in the house.

In between, a Farmington man was arrested Tuesday afternoon in Clovis for allegedly taking a truck that morning from the parking lot of an auto parts store on the 300 block of Sycamore Street.

Kevin Hurley, 49, was charged with felony unlawful taking of a motor vehicle after police say he was caught on video driving off with a silver Dodge Ram 1500 that had been dropped off at the business earlier "to have it worked on."

Within five hours of the event, the truck was seen parked outside a hotel on the 2900 block of Mabry Drive. Employees of the auto parts store confronted Hurley at his room there and he "began pleading with them not to call the police and to just let him run," according to a criminal complaint.

The police arrived, and on later questioning Hurley told an officer "he wanted to talk to me, but he has learned in the past that talking to the police usually ended up with him just getting into worse trouble," the complaint reads.

Hurley remained Thursday evening in the Curry County jail, but was approved Wednesday for a $1,000 cash bond. He is scheduled for a court hearing next week.

Police did not respond Wednesday or Thursday to questions about recent trends in property crime. There is nothing in court and police documents obtained by The News to suggest Hurley is a suspect in any other cases. He was conditionally appointed a public defender, but a representative of that office said Thursday a specific attorney was not yet assigned.

Other reports of burglaries this week were not yet "releasable," according to a CPD records clerk.