A 32-year-old San Jose man was arrested by Manteca detectives about 2:30 Wednesday afternoon by Manteca detectives and charged with two felonies in last month’s attempted burglary at New York Diamonds on South Main Street in the Walmart Shopping Center in the early morning of May 21.

Detective Aaron Montoya was key to the arrest of the Kien Xuen Nguyen after working with valuable evidence in the case for the last several weeks.  Nguyen was charged with attempted burglary and conspiracy with a conspirator who detectives hope to take into custody in the next several days. 

Patty Reece, owner of New York Diamonds, had handed officers a thumb drive containing footage from two security cameras that showed the pair first attempting to break into the front of her store shortly after 1:25 a.m. and then returning at 3:30 with bolt cutters still unable to gain entrance.

A homeless man was seen riding by the front of the store as the men were photographed attempted to cut their way into the entryway with bolt cutters.  The video shows him looking at the suspects and continuing to ride away. 

Reece had said she was ready to search out the culprits herself and had been scouring the roadways to find their older Toyota knowing their license number that had been captured by her video security cameras. 

 The two hooded men had smashed out her front glass door but were stopped by a steel gate that pulls across the front entrance and windows at the store’s entry.  Cost of repairing the damage was about $700, she said, and but much less than she could imagine the losses had they gotten into her store.  

To contact Glenn Kahl, email gkahl@mantecabulletin.com.