A man suspected of committing a string of burglaries throughout San Luis Obispo County and Northern California was tracked down in Hawaii on New Year’s Eve.
Tyrone Brennen, 30, of Antioch, California, was arrested on suspicion of burglarizing six businesses in San Luis Obispo County between Dec. 15 through 30, along with eight others across El Dorado, Placer and Nevada counties earlier that month, according to a press release from the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office.
On Dec. 31, Brennen was arrested by the Honolulu Police Department after the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office received information that Brennen had plans to head toward Hawaii, according to Tony Cipolla, public information officer for the sheriff’s office.
“There were a number of agencies involved, and a lot of cooperation involved,” Cipolla said, adding that the multiple departments across San Luis Obispo and in Hawaii worked well together in their common goal of bringing Brennen in.
The suspect would allegedly break into businesses, including Main Street Grill in Cambria and Avila Grocery, by removing an exterior window. He would then find an ATM, cut into it with an angle grinder and remove the cash from inside before escaping.
At the moment, police do not know why or how Brennen allegedly chose what businesses to burglarize, according to Cipolla.
Brennen was identified through DNA evidence that was being examined by detectives at the San Luis Obispo Police Department, who were investigating similar burglaries that occurred in San Luis Obispo in 2012.
While Cipolla couldn’t comment on the link in the DNA evidence between the burglaries from 2015 and 2012 because the investigation is ongoing, he stated that the “DNA match definitely helped us out.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Brennen was still in custody in lieu of a $40,000 bond. He faces 10 charges of burglary, two charges of receiving stolen property and one charge of felony vandalism.