Ripon Police officers interrupted a burglary in progress shortly after 1 a.m. Thursday in the 700 block of Mulholand Drive as three Stockton residents were removing some $2,500 in valuables from a home’s garage.
Two men and a woman, who was acting as a getaway driver, were taken into custody and booked into the San Joaquin County Jail in French Camp.  They were James Lazetera, 29, and Johnathan King, 22, and May Ortiz, 29.  Lazetera was charged with residential burglary, conspiracy to commit a crime and theft from a vehicle.  King had similar charges along with possession of drug paraphernalia.  Ortiz was charged with burglary conspiracy to commit a crime, theft from a vehicle and four misdemeanor warrants for her arrest.
A neighbor told the dispatcher that two subjects were taking items from a garage and placing them into a 1999 Ford F250.  When officers arrived on the scene, they located a female sitting in the driver seat of the truck that was parked in front of the victim’s resident. They reported that the garage door was open and that there were several items found in the bed of the vehicle determined to be stolen from the garage.
Police said they found that the remote to the garage had been taken from the victim’s vehicle that had been parked in the driveway. The remote was believed to have been used to gain entrance into the garage.  Officers canvassed the neighborhood and located the two male adults nearby who were identified as the responsible parties by a neighborhood witness. 
In all, police said 23 items valued at $2,500 were recovered from the bed of the pickup truck. 
Lazetera is being held in lieu of $203,000 in bail, King is being held under $206,000 bail and both scheduled to appear in the Manteca Branch of the San Joaquin County Superior Court on Feb. 5.  May Ortiz has her bail set at $288,000 that includes outstanding warrants with a court date set for today in the Stockton Courthouse.

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