Drones, ribeyes and cigarettes: Modesto Police arrest suspected serial burglar
Modesto Police arrested a man suspected in a series of creative, if not always successful, commercial burglaries over the past month.
All of the burglaries occurred in the late night or early morning hours from Jan. 8 to Jan. 30, when the businesses were closed.
The first burglary on Jan. 8 was at Smart Foodservice downtown on Tenth Street. The suspect pried open an emergency exit to enter the store and stole $600 worth of Ribeye steaks, said Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear.
The next night the suspect tried to break into Cigarettes Cheaper at 2221 McHenry Ave. Bear said he attempted to pull metal bars off the store’s window by winding what appeared to be a rope through them and tying it to his vehicle and driving forward.
When he was unsuccessful, he went a few blocks north to FYE Music at 2720 McHenry and broke a glass window. He entered the store and took several drones, each valued at $50, Bear said.
On Jan. 30, he tried to smash a glass window at the Mobil Gas station at 1649 Orangeburg Ave. When that didn’t work, he tried to burn through the glass using a torch, Bear said.
That too was unsuccessful so he went to the Dino Mart at 1432 Ninth Street. He entered the store by somehow breaking through the drywall from an exterior wall. Bear said it was not captured by surveillance so detectives don’t know how he did it. He took several packs of cigarettes and several hundred dollars in cash from the register.
Detectives working the cases identified the suspect as Jeremy Dwayne Grass, 35, of Modesto.
On Thursday, they arrested him at the El Capitan Motel on Needham Street. He was booked on suspicion of three counts of burglary, two counts of attempted burglary and arson.
