Update: Home burglary suspects may be responsible for some 15 home break-ins Monday. Both suspects are in county jail in lieu of $1 million bail.

Police officers chased suspects connected with at least nine Manteca residential burglaries at speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour over the Altamont Pass.

Manteca patrolman Shawn Cavin was credited with the capture of two Tracy men and a 17-year-old teen Monday afternoon. The chase started after Cavin intercepted their 1992 Lexus SUV on Highway 120 near the Yosemite Avenue off ramp on the west side of the city.  Cavin did not initiate the pursuit but kept the suspect vehicle in sight until the CHP officers could take over.

The trio allegedly committed four burglaries inside the city and one on rural Tinnin Road and another four in the county. Several of the burglaries involved kicking in the doors of the home.

The men who were initially described as three black male adults led the officer past the Mountain House Parkway at a high rate of speed.

It was at that point that two highway patrol units began their pursuit. Cavin accelerated into third place.  Other Manteca units were enroute to back him up after being dispatched from the neighborhood of the last break-in in the 1600 block of Snapdragon Way – south of Louise Avenue and east of Cottage Avenue.

Officers had been advised of the Tinnin Road burglary along with the others earlier in the day by Sheriff’s deputies. They were searching the entire community for the reported white Lexus as three other front doors were kicked off of their hinges within the city limits.

As the CHP units continued the pursuit beyond the Altamont, all but one of the Manteca units were called off.  The CHP ended their pursuit near Hacienda Drive as they approached the Interstate 680 interchange.

Acting Manteca Police Chief John Orcutt said that citizens witnessing the men throwing items from their vehicle notified police as the Lexus was reportedly abandoned.  Dublin Police officers and deputies with the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department arrested one of the suspects near the car and took the others into custody after a foot pursuit.

Two Manteca sergeants, Ralph Colin and Julie Renfroe, followed up on the case at a jail in Alameda County after following the pursuit in their vehicle.  The men and the youth were returned to Manteca at about 6 p.m. Monday. They were booked into the San Joaquin County Jail and at Juvenile Hall.

Orcutt said that the pursuing officers had lost sight on the vehicle in heavy commute traffic and feared a collision would possibly injure innocent motorists if it were not ended at that point.

Orcutt said the thefts amount to thousands of dollars in merchandise including one rifle, a safe, hand guns and jewelry.  Officers were warned about “officer safety” because of the firearms known to be in the vehicle, he said.

Sgt. Colin lauded Officer Cavin for his experience as a detective and for having knowledge of the suspects from the past.  After checking the registered owner’s actual address from the license plate reported by a citizen witness, Cavin took to the Highway 120 Bypass expecting the men to head toward the Tracy area, Colin said, and he ended up being in position right behind them.  

Colin said it was “awesome” how all the different departments worked together to make the arrests possible.  He noted the Tracy CHP units handed off their pursuit to the Dublin CHP officers that had staged themselves at the top of the Altamont.