A man who helped himself to items in an open garage was arrested Wednesday afternoon, June 20. He was later booked for residential burglary and probation violation.

A caretaker at a home in the 2000 block of Starling Drive had the garage door open while he was doing yard work in the back yard. When he came back into the garage he saw 59-year-old Steven Ramirez of Ceres walking out of the garage. The caretaker asked Ramirez if he could help him and the suspect replied that he was in the garage looking for a bicycle tire pump. The caretaker said he didn’t have a pump and Ramirez walked off. The caretaker walked toward Ramirez when the suspect dropped two shoes that he took from the garage, and rode off on a bicycle. Because Ramirez’s shirt was bulging, the caretaker believed he had taken other items from the garage. He summoned the help of a neighbor as they followed Ramirez while calling the police. The pair saw a black sweater fall off the bike and land on the ground.  The witnesses backed up the sweater which later was found to contain a glass methamphetamine pipe with a white residue inside the pipe. 

At 1:37 p.m. Officer Coey Henson drove to the area of Dale Avenue and Louise Avenue and located Ramirez in the 2800 block of Dale Avenue where he was detained. Although he was positively identified by three separate witnesses, Ramirez denied being on Starling Drive, denied stealing anything and also denied dropping the sweater.

He was booked into the Public Safety Center.