The California Highway Patrol’s San Luis Obispo County Auto Theft Task Force (SLO CATT) served a search warrant at the 100 Block of Mads Place in Nipomo Thursday morning. This was the same place a stolen vintage truck was found last week.
The CHP says they were serving a search warrant looking for stolen vehicles and guns.The SLO CATT worked alongside the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Fish and Wildlife as they searched the property with K-9s and a helicopter.
“The CHP helicopter was my alarm clock this morning,” said neighbor Kurt Brown.
Families who live close to the investigation say they questioned their safety as more and more law enforcement swarmed the area Thursday morning.
“So when my husband left and saw all the cop cars saw all the commotion and the helicopter, we were really afraid it would be something really dangerous. We double checked all the locks just to make sure in case someone was on the lam,” said neighbor Erin Malone.
The CHP says its investigation into a stolen Ford Model A vintage truck lead them to believe there would be other stolen vehicles and stolen firearms in the area.
Three people were detained at the scene, questioned and then released. Neighbors here hope the uptick in police activity in the neighborhood doesn’t continue
“The neighborhood has cleaned up the past seven years and been pretty quiet and everybody’s been pretty friendly so that would bring me some concern,” Brown said.
“We had been living in San Luis Obispo (before moving here) and San Luis Obispo is very safe – but my car was stolen twice there. So you can’t judge a place and think it’s going to be safe because humans are everywhere and inevitably there’s going to be human that ruins your day,” Malone said.
The CHP says the release of more information may be limited as the investigation is still ongoing.
