Two Canoga Park men were recently arrested on suspicion of committing a number of crimes, including the theft of a Winnetka plumber’s van and $4,000 worth of plumbing tools, leaving his daughters without Christmas gifts before authorities stepped in to play Santa Claus.
Los Angeles police were able to arrest the two men — Jose Argueta, 22, and Hugo Castro, 32 — after surveillance was conducted on them from an undercover crime reduction unit, said Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Stephan Bell.
The LAPD began the surveillance operation after an undercover officer saw a certain type of white work van — a model known for being targeted by thieves for the expensive tools inside them, Bell said.
After following the van and checking the license plate, authorities discovered the vehicle was listed as stolen. Upon further surveillance, both men were observed driving separate stolen white vans and were arrested, the sergeant said.
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According to L.A. County booking records, both men were arrested at 6 p.m. Dec. 21. Argueta was charged with a felony, and Castro was charged with a misdemeanor.
Argueta was released on $35,000 bail on Dec. 26 with no court date listed, according to booking records.
Castro was released on Dec. 27 and has a court date scheduled for Jan. 16, according to records.
Sgt. Bell said the girls’ father, Tomas Tahvito, had been unable to work after his tools and white Chevy van were stolen, which also left the family without Christmas gifts.
“He had nothing,” Bell said. “When the thieves took his van, they took his business.”
So, on Wednesday, LAPD officers stepped in, presenting gifts to the Winnetka plumber’s daughters — ages 2, 5 and 7 — at the LAPD Topanga Police Station in Canoga Park.
When a father of three girls had his work van stolen days before Christmas, thieves also stole his livelihood-$4,000 worth of plumbing tools. @LAPDTopanga officers not only recovered his stolen tools, they made sure his daughters had gifts for the holidays pic.twitter.com/d13waZ8mCg
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) December 28, 2017
The three girls received gifts of stuffed animals, playhouses and dolls, amounting to about 10 to 12 gifts each, Sgt. Bell said, adding that the parents received $200 gift cards donated from Target.
The arrest of both suspects led to the eventual search of both vans, neither of which were Tahvito’s, but his plumbing tools and and other stolen property were found, Bell said.
“Some of (the tools) had his name on it,” Bell said, adding other tools were identified from their packaging.
The LAPD’s undercover crime reduction unit went through both vans and found “an insane amount of what happened to be stolen property,” Bell said, adding evidence was still being booked as of Wednesday afternoon.
Tahvito was “just ecstatic,” Bell said about the father’s initial reaction. “The fact that he could go back to work? He couldn’t be happier. Now he can go back to work immediately.”
While he did have his plumbing tools, the father’s white van was still missing as of Wednesday.
Additionally, authorities said they believe the arrests of Argueta and Castro have broken a ring of “porch pirates” that West Hills residents had reported for stealing packages over the last month.
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