Man sentenced for driving stolen car in Salinas

A man who attempted to break into a home in Salinas and got caught with a stolen car will have to spend a little more than year behind bars for the crime.

According to police, Salinas resident Michael Silva was sentenced to 16 months in prison for driving a stolen vehicle. However, Silva will be sent to the Monterey County jail because of changes in sentencing law from prison realignment.

Silva was found prowling in a residential neighborhood the morning of March 4, 2017.

An officer watched him try to enter through the gates on either side of a house he was targeting and the officer later detained Silva in the driveway. During the investigation, the officer discovered that Silva was also not the registered owner of the car he drove to the house. The owner, a Modesto resident, had left his car with his daughter while he was out of the country and did not know his car had been stolen.