Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s deputies on Thursday arrested a man thought to be responsible for at least one burglary from a business in the area of Aptos and Capitola.
Richard Bustichi, 42, is suspected of taking thousands of dollars worth of gems from Philip Zane Designs on the 10000 block of Soquel Drive on April 30.
Bustichi has been charged with burglary, identity theft and possession of burglary tools. He is in custody at Santa Cruz County Jail in lieu of $250,000 bail, jail records showed.
It is unclear what led detectives to Bustichi when they arrested him. He was found with the stolen gems, said Santa Cruz Sheriff’s Sgt. Dee Baldwin.
Since early April, there have been 17 burglaries committed in Aptos and Capitola, in the Soquel Avenue corridor between Porter Street and the 10000 block of Soquel, Baldwin said.
Investigators are now trying to determine whether Bustichi is responsible for any of the other burglaries.
“Additional charges are likely,” Baldwin said. “At this point were in the early stages of linking them together.”
