Atwater, Merced men arrested in Ripon on theft charges

Two Merced County men were arrested in Ripon on Tuesday on possession of stolen property and other charges.

The first arrest came in the 4 a.m. hour, when an officer patrolling the area of Mulholland Drive saw two people walking. Officer Justin Qualle spoke with one of the men, 33-year-old Atwater resident William Breman.

Breman consented to a search of his person and belongings, the Ripon Police Department said in a Facebook post, and was found to have items from a recent vehicle theft in Madera and tools commonly associated with burglary.

Breman was arrested and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on charges of possession of stolen property and burglary tools. The man who'd been with him was not located at the time.

In the 1 p.m. hour Tuesday, officers responded to a report of a suspicious person leaving the side yard of a home in the area of North Manley road and Bogarin Lane. They found Omar Fierros, 24, of Merced, who was determined to be the second subject Officer Qualle saw early in the morning.

A search of Fierros found items stolen from the backyards of two residences in the area, as well as a car stereo reported stolen earlier in the day on North Ripon Road. Other items were located and police are working to identify their owners.

Fierros was booked into jail on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a crime, vehicle burglary, possession of stolen property, resisting and obstructing a police officer, giving false identification to an officer, trespassing, possession of burglary tools, possession of drug paraphernalia and petty theft.

This story was originally published February 7, 2018 at 8:26 AM with the headline "Atwater, Merced men arrested in Ripon on theft charges."