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Two men driving through the North Whisman neighborhood were arrested early Saturday, Feb. 9, after police found they were driving a stolen vehicle full of suspected stolen goods, including a police badge.
The suspects were spotted by a sergeant around 1:30 a.m. as they were traveling on Leong Drive towards Fairchild Avenue, according to police. The officer followed the car and found that it was reported stolen five days prior from a 78-year-old San Jose man.
The officer detained both the driver, a 35-year-old East Palo Alto man, and the passenger, a 36-year-old Mountain View man, and found methamphetamine, drug paraphernalia, burglary tools, a wallet, a passport and identification that did not belong to either suspect, according to police spokeswoman Katie Nelson.
The police badge of a retired officer from a neighboring law enforcement agency was also found in the car, Nelson said.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of vehicle theft and for an outstanding warrant, while the passenger was arrested on suspicion of possession stolen property, possession of burglary tools and drug possession charges.
The sergeant initially decided to follow the car, a 1990s Honda sedan, and check its license plate because the model is a common target of car thefts, Nelson said. Data collected by the nonprofit National Insurance Crime Bureau consistently shows that the Honda Accord and Honda Civic are the most stolen vehicles in California, with the Chevrolet pickup truck and the Toyota Camry a distant third and fourth.
When taking into account the year of the model, the 1998 Honda Civic tops the chart, followed by the 1996 Honda Accord.
I found it interesting it that a police badge from a retired police officer of a neighboring city was one of the stolen items found on the individuals who were arrested or in the vehicle in which they were traveling. I thought that only active law enforcement officers were supposed to possess badges and that when they permanently separated from their employer by way of being discharged, or resignation or retirement they are required to hand in their police badge. The risk of the badge being stolen (or “borrowed”) and used for illicit purposes would appear to be too great otherwise.