Suspect Caught in School Burglary

A man who lives about a half-mile from a rural school that was burglarized this week was arrested Thursday on suspicion that he was the one who broke into the building and stole a laptop, the Santa Cruz Sheriff's Office reported.

Ricky Faustino Santos, 27, was arrested at his Paulsen Road home, about a half-mile from , which is is suspected of burglarizing.

Because Santos is on probation from a prior conviction for methamphetamine, deputies were allowed to search him. However, when deputies went to his house, he refused to cooperate and locked himself in his bedroom. A deputy forced down the door, the sheriff's office reported.

Deputies reported finding an Apple iMac with “PVUSD” engraved on it. The computer had been stolen from Alianza earlier Thursday, according to the sheriff's office.

There have been 16 burglaries at Pajaro Valley Unified School District schools since April, the sheriff's office reported, including Calabasas, Amesti, Bradley, Starlight, MaQuiddy elementary schools, Rolling Hills Middle School and Pacific Coast Charter and Alianza Charter school. Earlier this week, .

The schools were targeted between 1-4 a.m. The burglars selectively stole Apple computer equipment, including laptops and LCD projectors.

Santos was only linked to the most-recent burglary at Alianza. Deputies said he also had a $5,000 temperature controller used in the computer industry that had been stolen from Heat Wave Labs on Aviation Way in Watsonville in April.

Santos was jailed on suspicion of possessing stolen property and violating his probation. His bail was set at $50,000.