Man arrested for alleged involvement with burglary crew

A man accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of items from stores on the Central Coast and beyond has been arrested.

Friday morning the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office Investigations Division assisted by the Sheriff’s Office Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) team served a search warrant in the 300 block of Navajo Drive.

31-year-old Shane Patrick Cerney of Salinas, came to the attention of the Sheriff’s Office when on duty Detectives were in the Salinas Best Buy store and he committed a burglary of the store while they were there.

They began an investigation into Cerney and soon learned he was part of a crew committing retail burglaries at numerous retail location across several counties.

Officials say Cerney and his crew like to steal from Home Depot, Best Buy, Sears, Macy’s and JC Penny Stores in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties.

They would enter, take high value items like power tools and game consoles, then run out of the store with the unpaid for merchandise.

Today’s warrant resulted in the recovery of numerous items of stolen property and burglary tools. It is estimated that this crew was committing thousands of dollars in thefts weekly.

This investigation is ongoing and more arrests are anticipated in the near future.

Anyone with information on Mr. Cerney is asked to call and speak to Detective Jesus Reyes at 831-755-3805.