Accused ‘prolific thief ’ caught

A Sunnyvale man, found with two storage units packed with stolen goods, was arrested by San Jose police and linked to multiple thefts and burglaries, the department said Wednesday.

Matthew Freudenblum, 24, was arrested last week on suspicion of grand theft, burglary, sale of stolen property and illegal weapons possession, authorities said, describing him as a “prolific thief.”

A tip from Crime Stoppers, a community anti-crime hotline, said that a man was selling stolen merchandise in an online marketplace led them to Freudenblum, who is on probation for auto theft and credit card fraud, police said. They determined that those goods had been taken in an auto burglary.

Their investigation took them to two storage facilities, where police say he was likely storing stolen goods. Armed with search warrants, police said they found a valuable cache — highend medical equipment valued at more than $1.5 million stolen from San Jose; two go-karts valued at nearly $50,000 and stolen from San Mateo County; several electronic devices, including an iPad stolen from a teacher’s car in Palo Alto; several sets of golf clubs stolen from cars around the Bay Area; music equipment from a San Jose burglary; and several weapons.

The weapons included one ghost gun assault rifle, an assembled weapon lacking a serial number; six ghost gun pistols in different stages of assembly; and one handgun stolen in a Morgan Hill vehicle burglary.

When Freudenblum was arrested, police found another ghost gun in a concealed compartment in his car in addition to undisclosed items taken in another burglary, they said.

Freudenblum is being held in Santa Clara County jail on $1 million bail, and detectives are working to return stolen items to his victims as well as to identify additional cases, police said.

Anyone with information may contact the burglary unit at 408-2774401 or by email at 3506@sanjoseca.gov.