Federal officials have arrested a Santa Ana man they say made off with more than $200,000 worth of military equipment from Tustin before some of it was later recovered in Orange.
As detailed by Seamus Hughes’ Court Watch, Guadalupe Blanco is accused of working with a member of the Army Reserve to steal gear and at least two Humvees from the U.S. Army Reserve Center at 15992 Red Hill Avenue in Tustin in January.
That reservist, identified by prosecutors as Albert Reyes of Orange, and Blanco communicated about what to do with the Humvees in the days after the burglary, with Reyes noting that “This is gonna be a stolen military vehicle” and asking who appears to be Blanco “Can you hide it,” the criminal complaint says.
In the days immediately after the break-in, law enforcement recovered two Humvees, one of which was in a church parking lot in Orange and another parked on a Santa Ana street.
A Humvee was also spotted at Reyes’ home, where four people reportedly unloaded gear from the vehicle. It’s unclear if that Humvee was one of the two that was recovered or if it is another allegedly stolen vehicle.
Also recovered was gear like smoke grenades, artillery rounds, uniforms, machine gun mounts and bayonets, officials said.
The Army declined to comment when reached by Court Watch.
Reyes was released on bond and is due back in court in April.
