Big rig, stolen product recovered

GUSTINE – A big rig loaded with cheese and butter was reported stolen from a local trucking company last Thursday morning, but the dairy product caper was thwarted that evening by officers who interrupted two individuals unloading product from a pickup truck into a Lee Avenue home.

Inside, police found 1,000 cases of the stolen product, according to Interim Police Chief Devon Stavrowsky.

Subsequently, a second pickup loaded with cheese was spotted by an officer in the 200 block of 2nd Street and the partially unloaded semi truck was found hidden in an orchard in the Santa Nella area.

In addition to the cheese and butter, officers searching the home in the 900 block of Lee Avenue discovered narcotics, weapons and 48 collapsed walnut boxes from Pusateri Nut Company – where $6,000 worth of walnuts were reported stolen in mid-April.

Stavrowsky said that officials were able to recover the semi truck and “99 percent” of the stolen dairy products, which he believes were most likely destined for black market sales to small markets and carnicerias.

Stavrowsky said the product was valued at nearly $80,000, and would likely have been sold for pennies on the dollar.

He said police got their break in the case when officer Dan Rocha spotted two men unloading cheese from a pickup truck parked in the driveway of the Lee Avenue home. Rocha detained one of the individuals, but the second fled into the home.

Another individual inside the home complied with officers’ orders to come out, but the man who fled into the home escaped.

“There were over 1,000 cases of cheese and butter in plain sight in the home,” Stavrowsky said.

Shortly thereafter, officer Rick Stice discovered a truck parked in the 200 block of 2nd Street loaded with cheese.

“Both of these trucks were in plain sight from the roadway,” Stavrowksy commented. “This (2nd Street) truck was parked in the driveway, with cheese stacked about a foot high over the side.”

The individual in possession of the truck found on 2nd Street was arrested on charges of possession of stolen property, according to Stavrowsky. He was identified as Pedro Lopez, also known as Juan Lopez, 32, who is believed to have been living in the Gustine area.

Another suspect in the case, the resident in the Lee Avenue home, has been identified and is being sought, Stavrowsky stated. It was not known if that individual was the same man who fled the home, he added.

Two other men may face charges, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation, Stavrowsky said.

Officers also found six marijuana plants, 15 grams of methamphetamine and modified and sawed-off .22-caliber rifles.

Police also found the missing truck.

“If the truck was near enough that they were unloading it into Gustine, we decided it was probably still nearby so we started going down roads and looking down orchard rows,” Stavrowsky explained.

He said he was stopped in the Santa Nella area by a farmer who asked if he was looking for a semi-truck, saying he had learned only minutes earlier that a truck had been discovered in a nearby orchard.

He led Stavrowksy down a dirt road to the stolen truck, which was located off Marshall Road.

Stavrowsky said police are continuing their investigation into how the truck was stolen.