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Published on 06/26/1995 All articles from this issue

Police display stolen furniture for victims to claim

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By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

Furniture spilled out of the two 30-by-10 foot storage lockers onto the parking lot June 21 at Shurgard Storage Center in Mountain View.

Mirrors nested against the chain-link fence, reflecting the midday sun. Beveled mirrors leaned into gilt mirrors and held up small vanity mirrors.

An antique bird cage, with a mahogany base and four blue and white porcelain, sparrow-sized water dishes, perched on a glass-topped table. A down comforter flowed onto the blacktop.

This was not an upscale garage sale.

The people moving slowly from chairs to tables to mirrors all were victims of the furniture thief who robbed 18 peninsula homes, three in Los Altos, from February to June. They came June 21, at the invitation of local police agencies, to identify stolen items recovered by police, said Los Altos Sgt. Bob Lacey.

The Los Altos homes that were robbed are located on Alvarado, San Luis and Del Monte avenues, said Los Altos police officer Suzie Galvez.

Thirty-five detectives from six law enforcement agencies worked together and June 9 arrested Tonya Irla, 25, of Mountain View, on six charges of burglary. All the homes were listed for sale and many were furnished with rented furniture.

Four others were also arrested on June 9. Only two remain in custody as of June 22, both at the Santa Clara County Correctional Center for women in Milpitas. Bail for Irla is $200,000. Coralee Lester, 25, also of Mountain View, is held on a charge of receiving stolen property. Her bail is $15,000, a spokeswoman said. Both go to court June 26 in Palo Alto.

Nobody took home any of the property they identified. "We need a court order to release furniture back to the owners," said Los Altos police officer Tom Joy.

The two storage sheds cost $500 per month to rent so detectives are anxious to return peoples' furniture, Joy said.

Officers matched items that people identified as theirs with burglary report lists of stolen furniture.

So far, two people have not claimed the same item. But one love seat, cream linen with one-inch beige stripes, caused some concern.

"The thief took just the cushions in one house. In another, she took the entire identical couch. Who gets which cushions?" Joy said.

The thief also took a large bunch of silk flowers. They were then arranged into many small bouquets and put into several vases.

"But the lady to whom the flowers belonged could spot which were her flowers in each of the different bouquets," Joy said.

Jars of balsamic vinegar sat in the sun. Live plants trailed from a bench.

"If it wasn't nailed down," Joy said, "it got taken."