Oct 9, 2008 6:13 pm US/Pacific
Cell Phone Leads Police To Fremont Robbery Suspect
FREMONT (BCN) ―
Police arrested a San Jose man Wednesday night after the man allegedly left his cell phone in a car that was burglarized in Fremont, a police sergeant said Wednesday.
Trong Phan was arrested at his San Jose home around 10 p.m., Fremont police Sgt. Jeff Swadener said.
A couple of hours earlier, officers responded to an auto burglary in the parking lot of a Safeway store at 46848 Mission St. in Fremont. A Toyota's back window had been smashed and the owner's backpack had been stolen, Swadener said.
The owner told police that a black Nokia cell phone had been left in the vehicle that did not belong to him.
Officers noticed a frequently dialed number in the phone, called it, and reached Phan's girlfriend. The officer calling told her he had her boyfriend's phone and wanted to return it.
The girlfriend gave police Phan's name and address, police said.
When officers arrived at the San Jose home, Phan let them inside and told them his phone had been stolen earlier that day but that he had not filed a police report, Swadener said.
His brother, Cuong Phan, told police he was on parole for burglary and that the two of them lived together.
After some talking, police saw a lump covered with a T-shirt, which turned out to be a backpack that fit the description of one taken from the car in Fremont.
The backpack, which Cuong Phan originally claimed to be his then said was his brother's, actually belonged to the victim of an unreported San Jose burglary from Friday, police said. It contained plane tickets, books and other personal belongings.
Police did a parole search on the house and found a replica gun, a Canon camera, a Dell computer and other items that could also have been stolen, Swadener said.
However, the officers did not find any of the Toyota owner's property.
"I think we're on the right track here, we just haven't found our victim's backpack," Swadener said.
The brother, Cuong Phan, was arrested for owning a replica gun while on parole for burglary, Swadener said.
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