BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills Police Department reported on Wednesday, June 30, that an arrest had been made in connection with a string of car burglaries that have increasingly occurred in the past few weeks.
Police arrested 41-year-old Culver City resident Thomas James Gardner without incident in his home at 7:40 a.m. after a search warrant was granted to the police department. Police reported that many of the items reported stolen from the burglarized vehicles were found in Gardner’s home on the 5600 block of Windsor Way. Some items reported stolen and found in the home were “electronic devices, checkbooks, wallets and sporting goods,” according to the Beverly Hills Police Department. Some items, such as driver’s licenses and credit cards, were also reported missing from purses and wallets.
The BHPD car burglary reports indicate an increase in car theft over the span of six weeks; four of these occurring the night before Gardner was arrested by police. The Beverly Hills Police Department reports that Gardner was likely responsible for most of the burglaries, undoubtedly the most recent cases, as the police found their “smoking gun” when a collection of the most recent burglary items were discovered in his apartment upon search. After connecting Gardner to the recent burglaries, an arrest warrant and search warrant were granted to police.
Gardner is currently being held on $1.74 million bail under felony car theft charges at the Beverly Hills Jail, awaiting his arraignment on July 20, according to the official BHPD booking report. Anyone with further information on any recent car theft cases is encouraged to contact the Beverly Hills Police Department at 310-550-4951.
