On 03/21/20 at approximately 1130 am Patrol Officers responded to Orangeburg Mini Storage, located at 3937 E. Orangeburg Ave, for the report of burglary in progress to one of the storage sheds.
A tenant of one of the storage units had arrived to find his unit had been burglarized, and reported seeing a U-haul truck in the complex, possibly burglarizing another unit. Officers arrived on scene, and conducted a traffic stop on the U-haul truck.
Officers contacted the two occupants of the truck, who were identified as 29-year-old Branden Pimentel of Modesto and 29-year-old James Nix of Turlock. A search of the vehicle was conducted, and property belonging to the tenant who had originally called to report the burglary was located.
The investigation revealed Branden was a prior tenant of the facility, but was in the process of moving his property out of the facility. Branden was subsequently arrested and booked into the Stanislaus County Jail for possession of stolen property.
James was positively identified, and released on Saturday. Detectives with the Modesto Police Department Property Crimes Unit contacted James at his home in Turlock on Monday March 23rd, and interviewed him regarding a previous reported burglary from this same storage facility which had occurred on February 26th. Detectives had been investigating this reported burglary in which over $7,000 worth of yard maintenance equipment had been stolen from one of the units.
Detectives were able to find evidence tying James to this prior burglary, and he was subsequently booked. Several pieces of stolen equipment and other various items were recovered and returned to their owners. The investigation is still on going, and more charges are expected to be filed against both Branden and James.
Branden Pimentel was arrested and booked for 496 PC – Possession of Stolen Property.
James Nix was arrested and booked for 459 PC – Burglary, 182 PC – Conspiracy, and 496 PC – Possession of Stolen Property.
Photos of both Branden and James are attached to this press release.
Anyone with information pertaining to these cases, or any other cases where these two suspects may be involved, are encouraged to contact Detective Ray Bennett at 209-572-9525. Tipsters may also remain anonymous by contacting Crime Stoppers at 209-541-4636.
No other information will be released at this time. For further information regarding this press release please contact the Modesto Police Department Media Relations Unit.