[LASD] – On Monday, Oct. 1, at approximately 2 a.m., an alert patrol deputy was conducting patrol checks of local businesses in the area of the 26400 block of Golden Valley Road in Santa Clarita. The deputy saw two men seated in a vehicle that was backed into a parking space in front of a business.

Knowing there has been a rash of recent commercial burglaries, the deputy stopped and made contact with the two men. During the course of the deputy’s investigation, the two men were found to be in possession of US currency (mostly in small denominations). Inside the vehicle the men were seated in, deputies recovered an unlocked safe, a checkbook belonging to a local business owner, more US currency, a claw hammer and a laptop computer.

Assisting deputies were able to contact the business owner named on the checkbook that was recovered inside the male’s vehicle.

Deputies were able to confirm with the business owner that her business had just been broken into and that her safe, checkbook, and laptop computer had been stolen.

Robert Newell, a 38 year old male from Valencia, along with his brother Jonathan Newell, a 43 year old male from Valencia, were arrested for commercial burglary. Jonathan Newell is currently on non-revocable parole for theft related charges. Non-Revocable Parole is a non-supervised version of parole where you do not report to a parole agent.

The Santa Clarita Station Crime Prevention Unit, in conjunction with the Santa Clarita Station Detective Bureau was able to identify a trend regarding to recent commercial burglaries in Zones 4 (Saugus) and 7 (Canyon Country West). Armed with this information, patrol deputies were able to conduct specific patrols to areas where this type of crime was most likely to occur.

This investigation is on-going, however it is believed that both men are responsible for several recent commercial burglaries.