Security camera leads Sonoma sheriff’s deputies to felony arrests

Thursday afternoon, May 12, a resident of Hyde Road east of Sonoma was expecting an Amazon order when he came home from work. When he arrived, however, he found no package on his front porch. A bit annoyed, he asked his daughters what they’d done with it.

“We didn’t do anything, Dad,” they said, as daughters will. The man, whom we will call Mr. A, double-checked the tracking information on the package and found that, indeed, the package had been delivered to his front porch that afternoon, with the time of delivery noted.

On a hunch he checked the video in his security camera set-up, and discovered a tape telling the tale: a white Toyota Yaris had driven by his house, stopped, then backed up. A woman in a short skirt jumped from the passenger seat while the driver waited, leaped onto the porch, nabbed the package and raced back to the car, which then sped away.

According to Mr. A, a number of other people in the same general neighborhood had complained about similar package thefts in recent weeks, although they had not reported them to the sheriff’s office. Sgt. Jason Craver of the Sonoma Police had earlier said that package thefts are fairly common around Christmas, but clearly gift-lifting is not limited to the gift-giving season.

But Mr. A’s complaint, and the evidence from the video camera, alerted the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department. They tracked the license plate and identified a residence on Greenwood Drive near Eldridge where the vehicle might be found.

They watched, and waited, finally moving in when the white Yaris was parked on the property, on Tuesday May 17. At home was a 48-year-old woman who was determined to be on probation, which entitled the deputies to make a search of the residence. They discovered a quantity of methamphetamines, packaging and other materials, and 11 firearms.

Arrested at the scene was Theresa Harmon; she was booked into County Jail on felony charges of possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession while armed, and violation of probation. Because of her age and other factors, however, it was doubted that she was the short-skirted gift lifter of the original crime.

David DeMartini, a 51-year-old man of the same address, turned himself into the County Sheriff later that same day, facing charges of being in possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and possession while armed, the last two felonies.

Both bailed out the next day.

But the missing items from the victim’s front porch were not located, and deputies continued their investigation. Two days later, they identified the young woman in the video from Mr. A’s surveillance camera and contacted her, but no arrest was made as no crime had occurred in the deputy’s presence.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking any other victims of similar crimes to make reports so they can accumulate details and evidence which may lead to arrest.

However, Mr. A expressed some satisfaction that the heister would be disappointed with her bulky prize: the Amazon shipment contained a pair of food strainers and a roll of electrical tape, totaling about $50 in value – a petty theft charge at best.

Email Christian at christian.kallen@sonomanews.com.