The quick actions of Ceres Police officers helped retrieve a gift for a Ceres Marine Corps veteran stolen off his porch by a thief.
Heather Garfield ordered a personalized gift sweater for her husband Brian which was swiped off their porch in the 1700 block of Myrtlewood Drive.
The couple’s surveillance camera captured the theft. It showed a woman reaching under the metal gate to grab the package and running off to an awaiting white SUV.
Heather reported the crime to Ceres Police at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14 shortly after it happened, thinking she would not see it returned. But Officer Chuck Rushing, who is also a Marine veteran, quickly acted and reviewed both a neighbor’s security video and the surveillance cameras set up throughout Ceres and was able to track down the vehicle used by the thief to get away.
Two days later Modesto Police spotted the vehicle moving down South Seventh Street and pulled over the car in the area of La Loma and Rowland avenues.
In the back of the car Officer Rushing found the stolen package.
Two persons were arrested in the case. They were transient Carissa Martinez, 35, and Carlos Soto Jr., 26 of Modesto. They were booked into the Stanislaus County Public Safety Center on charges of burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and receiving stolen property.
The recovered package was personally returned to the veteran’s home by Rushing himself. The couple later learned that Rushing also served in the Marines and told the Garfields that he took the theft personally.
Heather Garfield said she ordered the Christmas gift online since she is recovering from breast cancer and was unable to go out shopping. The sweater celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps.
“I know it’s just one package,” she told KOVR-TV. “It’s that time of year, but this was really important to us.”
Ceres Police Chief Trenton Johnson said that Rushing would have been diligent about retrieving any stolen goods but said “definitely there is a brotherhood in the Marine Corps and they definitely look out for each other.”
Rushing spent five years in the Marines.
