2 arrested in string of Douglas burglaries

A man and woman suspected in more than a dozen burglaries were arrested by Douglas County deputies on Thursday.

According to sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Jim Halsey, Timothy Charles Morgan, 21, and Vanessa Breisida Gomez, 19, of the Gardnerville Ranchos were taken into custody.

Halsey said Douglas investigators have been working on a rash of 14 separate burglaries over the past several weeks when they got a tip that led them to Morgan and Gomez.

One of the burglary victims was home when the attempt was made and was able to describe a Ford Explorer and the two suspects.

When patrol deputies were briefed about the case, Halsey said Deputy Nadine Chrzanowski recognized the description of the female suspect as possibly being Vanessa Gomez and knew that Gomez was driving her mother's Explorer.

Chrzanowski passed this information to Investigator Ed Garren, the lead investigator on the residential burglary cases.

Garren followed Gomez and a passenger, later identified as Timothy Morgan, from Gomez' home to the Pine View Residential Estates area, south of town, where he and other investigators saw the couple walk to several homes in the neighborhood.

They returned to their vehicle and drove away, leaving the area. DCSO investigators followed Gomez and Morgan while Investigator Garren checked the homes that the subjects two had been seen walking around.

Garren discovered the homes had been broken into through the front and side doors.

The investigators and patrol deputies stopped Gomez and Morgan, and allegedly saw items inside the vehicle is believed to be stolen in the burglaries. A search warrant to recover the property is pending.

Both Gomez and Morgan were booked on three counts of burglary. Their bail was set at $75,000 each.

Anyone who thinks their home was burglarized is urged to contact Investigator Ed Garren at 782-9908.