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Police arrest pair in theft of firearms
crime

Two 19-year-olds have been arrested — including one taken out of a southeast Manteca home by a SWAT operation on Thanksgiving morning — in connection with the theft of firearms and a vehicle from a city residence.

The Manteca/Ripon Police SWAT executed a search warrant at 266 Rina Drive in the Evan Estates neighborhood off of South Main Street in southeast Manteca Thursday at 11:30 a.m. Suspect Gabriel Da Rocha, 19, was taken into custody without incident.

The case started on Tuesday after officers responded to a burglary at a Manteca home. Numerous firearms had been stolen from secured storage while the residents were away on vacation. Other items as well as a vehicle were stolen.

Then on Wednesday at 9:40 p.m. an officer spotted the stolen vehicle parked at a Manteca hotel. One of the two suspects — 19-year-old Marvin Alexis Reyes — was inside the vehicle. Police arrested Reyes and received several of the stolen firearms.

Detectives and officers developed additional leads that allowed them to secure a probable cause search warrant for the Rina Drive home.

The combined Manteca/Ripon SWAT team served the warrant at 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Rocha was taken into custody without incident. Officers recovered the remaining stolen firearms and another stolen forearm that wasn’t part of the original burglary.

Both suspects were booked into the San Joaquin County Jail. Reyes was charged with vehicle theft, possession of stolen property, burglary, conspiracy, and possession of stolen property.

Da Rocha was charged as a felon/prohibited person in possession of a firearm and as a felon/prohibited person in possession of ammunition.