San Mateo Police Arrest 2 in Local Auto Dealership Burglaries

Two Oakland men have been arrested in connection to a series of burglaries at auto dealerships in the San Mateo area, police said Tuesday.

The two men, identified as 19-year-old Marquis Banks and 18-year-old Moufassa Hauley, were taken into custody on Tuesday, when the San Mateo Police Department served a search warrant in Oakland, according to an SMPD news release.

The warrant was the result of an investigation dating back to Aug. 17, when the first burglary occurred at at 4001 S. El Camino Real, police said. Two vehicles were taken in that incident.

“The second burglary occurred on August 22, 2014 at Trax Auto, located at 4301 S. El Camino Real, when more than 40 sets of car keys were taken from the premises overnight,” police said. “The final burglary occurred on August 23, 2014, again at Trax Auto, when two vehicles were taken.”

When police served the search warrant,  “...they successfully located evidence tying the residents to all three burglaries in San Mateo,” according to the news release.

The MO of the case sounds similar to that which Belmont police described on Monday, in which at least nine cars were taken from a dealership in that town.

“...SMPD Detectives are working collaboratively with Belmont Police Detectives to determine if the same subjects were involved in a similar crime in Belmont,” San Mateo police said.

So far, each of the men arrested Tuesday is facing six felony charges, according to police.