By FRANCISCO E. JIMENEZ
Staff Writer
reporter@sbnewspaper.com
Statistics released by the San Benito Police Department on Jan. 24 reveal that the number of crimes reported in the city increased by nearly 300 cases in 2012.
In 2011, the statistics show a total of 3,493 crimes reported in San Benito while 3,778 were reported in 2012.
The total number of theft-related crimes, 3,213, made up approximately 85 percent of all crimes reported in 2012, an increase of 341 in 2011 when 2,872 theft-related crimes were reported. Of the theft-related crimes in 2011, 313 were reported as burglaries, 794 were larceny or petty theft, and 1,765 were motor vehicular theft.
SBPD Assistant Operations Chief Michael Galvan attributed the increase in theft-related crimes to the struggling economy.
“It’s probably an indication of the economy and the price of gas,” said Galvan. “When the price of everything goes up and pay stays the same, it makes people a little more desperate.”
In 2012, the total number of theft-related crimes increased slightly as 377 burglaries, 938 larceny or petty thefts and 1898 motor vehicular thefts were reported.
The number of violent crimes, however, has decreased by 56 cases. There were 621 such cases in 2011; of those crimes, 11 involved what police officials termed “forcible” rape, 21 were robbery and 589 were assault cases.
That number decreased in 2012 with a total of 565 violent crimes reported; 545 of those crimes were assaults and 19 were robberies.
“On cases like that it’s a seesaw – sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down,” Galvan said about the number of violent crimes in the city. “Sometimes the people that we deal with on a regular basis are in jail, and our problems go away for a while but they come back. Sometimes, before we get the notice that they’ve been released from prison, we already know because they are already causing problems.”
According to the crime stats, there were no “forcible” rapes reported in 2012. There was, however, one case of criminal homicide which occurred in late November.
In that case, 19-year-old Angel Perez of San Benito was stabbed to death on Nov. 19, 2012. San Benito police arrested five people in connection with the crime – all charged with first degree murder. The suspects, Ruby Nadine Sanchez, 23, JJ Leal, 18, Jose Lasaro Ramos, 21, Miguel Angel Perez, 18, and Esteban Rodriguez, 22, were each given $500,000 bonds.
Police believe the incident that led to Perez’ death, reportedly the result of being stabbed 14 times in the abdomen, allegedly stemmed from a “random act of violence” occurring in retaliation for a burglary the victim was accused of perpetrating.
Read this story in the Feb. 3 edition of the San Benito News, or subscribe to our E-Edition by clicking here.
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