Residents Help Police Make Arrests

Here's an announcement from the :

The Livermore Police Department wants to remind our community that it’s our community members who help make Livermore such a wonderful and safe place to live, work, and visit. 

On Saturday, two different community members saw a crime occur, and they contacted LPD to report what they saw. Both community members went beyond just making the phone call to the dispatch center, as both stayed on the phone with the LPD dispatchers providing real time updates as officers responded to the area. Each of these incidents ended with the suspects being arrested. Had these community members not made the choice to get involved, it’s doubtful that either suspect would have been apprehended.

At 11:08 a.m., our Dispatch center received a phone call from a concerned community member who saw a suspicious person wandering in the parking lot of peering into vehicles. The community member said, “something didn’t feel right” so he continued to drive around the parking lot and watch the suspicious person.  He then saw the suspicious person attempt to open several car doors, but the car doors were locked. The community member described to the dispatcher what was happening. The community member continued to watch as the suspicion person found an unlocked car, opened the passenger door, and began rummaging through the car. The community member stayed on the phone with LPD dispatch and continued to provide updates of the suspicious person’s activities.

LPD units arrived on scene and saw the suspicious person walking away from the parking lot that the community member had described. The subject (identified as Jacob Bartlett 12/18/91 of Livermore) was detained. Bartlett’s statement to police was that he was looking into vehicles with the intent to enter the vehicles and steal money. Bartlett was subsequently arrested for attempted theft and a probation violation (664/488PC & 1203.2 PC). Bartlett is on probation in Alameda County for Burglary. Bartlett was later booked into custody at Santa Rita Jail.

LPD credits this community member for preventing Bartlett from burglarizing multiple vehicles that were parked at the high school to watch athletic events.

At about 1:29 p.m., a white Dodge truck pulling an enclosed trailer struck the rear of another vehicle which was stopped on southbound N. Livermore Avenue, near Cromwell Way. The victim vehicle had been stopped for a red light, and was struck from behind causing significant damage. When the traffic light turned green, the suspect vehicle fled the scene by driving through the Lucky’s parking lot. A concerned community member who witnessed the collision saw that the suspect vehicle was fleeing. This community member contacted LPD Dispatch and began providing real time updates of the suspect vehicle’s location.

The suspect vehicle fled westbound on Portola Ave, Westbound on Airway Blvd, northbound on Isabell Avenue, and onto eastbound 580. As the community member kept the dispatcher updated, LPD units responded to apprehend the suspect driver.  The suspect vehicle exited eastbound 580 at First St and eventually was stopped by LPD units in the Burger King lot located in the 4500 block of First St.

Officers eventually arrested Ernesto Munoz (09/05/87) of Livermore for driving without a license and hit and run (12500(a) VC and 20002(a) VC). The community member assisted LPD officers by positively identifying Munoz as the driver of the suspect vehicle. Because the victim in this collision had not been able to obtain a license plate of the suspect vehicle as it fled the scene, had it not been for this concerned citizen, it’s unlikely that this case would have been solved. 

Community members play an imperative role in keeping our community safe.  The Livermore Police Department encourages our community to contact us when they see a crime committed, something out of the ordinary, or something that “just doesn’t seem right.” If it’s an emergency situation you should call 911, and if it’s not a life threatening emergency, you should call 925-371-4987. Working together we can continue to make Livermore a great community.