Pair arrested in car burglaries

Capital-areamen suspected of using stolen credit cards

MILPITAS — Two men from the Sacramento area were arrested on suspicion of using credit cards stolen from a string of East Bay car burglaries to go on a shopping spree in Milpitas.

The allegations stem from a traffic stop just after midnight March 17 by Milpitas police outside the Walmart on Ranch Drive, after officers spotted a white 2001 Mercedes-Benz ML320 SUV without license plates, police said.

Officers saw a new big-screen TV, three new Apple iPads and a new Sony Playstation 4 game console inside, and “through further investigation,” they found the men were carrying credit cards that belonged to an auto-burglary victim in Newark the previous evening.

They also found a purse with credit cards belonging to the victim of a separate car breakin reported in Fremont, police said. Strengthening officers’ suspicion was the discovery of the receipts for the electronics in the SUV that indicated they were purchased with the stolen credit cards.

The SUV they were traveling in was also stolen, police said.

Devante Javon Smith, 22, of Sacramento, and 21-yearold El Grove resident Phillip Samuel Davis were arrested and booked into the Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of burglary, possessing stolen property, fraud and conspiracy, but jail records indicate that neither was still in custody as of Thursday.

Milpitas police said the case reaffirms the need for residents and shoppers to keep valuable items out of plain sight after they park and lock their vehicles, and take them along shopping if possible.