Sonora vandal signed work with a pocket knife, Tuolumne deputies say

There’s inadvertently leaving incriminating evidence at a crime scene. Then there’s carving one’s initials during the course of vandalizing property.

Shortly after 4 a.m. Sunday, the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a resident on Stanislaus Court in Sonora. The caller reported a stranger had rung his doorbell and demanded entry into the house. “He woke the homeowners, who came to the door, looked out the peep hole and asked who he was,” said Sgt. Andrea Benson. The man identified himself as Jordan, walked away from the front door and then entered the garage through a side door.

“The homeowner saw the man enter the garage door and heard things being thrown and moved around, so they called 911,” Benson said. “They did not confront him.”

Within minutes of the call, deputies arrived at the scene and encountered 21-year-old Robert Jordan Torres as he left the garage, authorities said. Torres was detained and found to have a pocket knife.

The homeowner identified several items in the garage that had been damaged by a knife. One of the damaged items had the initials “JT” freshly carved into it. The Sheriff’s Office said Torres did more than $850 in damage.

During the booking process at the Tuolumne County jail, Torres was found to have a blood alcohol level of 0.28 percent. He has a “consume no alcohol” clause as part of his probation.

“Torres was very intoxicated. He gave several different stories regarding why he was there,” Benson said. “He originally said the house belongs to his friend and he lives next door and wandered in by confusion. He then said he lived nowhere near the area and couldn’t remember what happened.”

Torres is listed as a transient, Benson said, but has never lived in that area.

He faces charges of burglary, felony vandalism and public intoxication.

A Facebook post by the Sheriff’s Office about the incident received a number of comments, including this, by Budd Johnson: “Can’t fix stupid. But you can cite, arrest and book it.”

“We urge the community to always keep their doors locked to their homes, garages, outbuildings and vehicles,” Benson said. “Do not answer the door if you do not recognize a person.

“In this case the homeowner did the right thing and called the Sheriff’s Office once the person starting acting bizarrely and would not leave.”

This story was originally published January 9, 2017 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Sonora vandal signed work with a pocket knife, Tuolumne deputies say."