Crime & Safety
22 Firearms Stolen from Albany Home Found in Concord
Albany and Concord PD make arrests, recover weapons, according to Albany police.
A neighbor's report of a suspicious vehicle led to three arrests in connection with a residential Albany burglary, and the recovery of 22 stolen firearms Thursday.
On July 26, the t received a report of a residential burglary in the 800 block of Hillside, according to information released Thursday night by Detective Don Maiden.
Items stolen from the home included "precious heirlooms," including more than 20 shotguns and rifles that had been kept in the home.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The police investigation led officers to homes in Vallejo and Concord where the firearms "were rumored to be awaiting sale to local gang members."
Albany police detectives served search warrants in Vallejo and Concord, in cooperation with officers from those cities, early Thursday morning.
Find out what's happening in Concordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Police found 22 stolen firearms at the Concord home, in the 2800 block of Loma Vista Avenue; two people in the home were arrested by Concord police in connection with unrelated offenses.
No weapons were found at the Vallejo address.
"Based on information provided by a neighbor who had witnessed a suspicious vehicle in the driveway of [Albany] home, detectives identified 64-year-old Deanna Wilkinson of Richmond as a suspect. Wilkinson was later linked to a Richmond motel where, on July 27, 2011, she was seen driving a vehicle in the company of her daughter, 35-year-old Denise Wilkinson of El Cerrito and 38-year-old Gustavo Ramos of Vallejo," according to the police statement.
The three were arrested on suspicion of burglary and conspiracy, among other crimes, but the firearms were not found. The trio is set for arraignment Friday afternoon at the Wiley W. Manuel Courthouse in Department 112.
The Wilkinsons are being held on $830,000 bail; Ramos is being held with a bail of $2,050,000. Ramos also was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Alameda County Sheriff's Department.
Albany police said that, without the neighbor who reported the suspicious activity on Hillside, "these twenty-two stolen weapons might not have been recovered."
The Albany Police Department can be reached at 510-525-7300.
